ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
Joachim Ehrhardt
Nuclear Technology | Volume 31 | Number 1 | October 1976 | Pages 123-132
Technical Paper | Instrument | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31704
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new method for the detection of sodium boiling in liquid-metal fast breeder reactors is based on the assumption that the boiling of sodium produces fluctuations of the neutron flux within a restricted frequency range. Accordingly, a resonance-type increase in the power spectral density of neutron noise signals is observed. General criteria relating detection sensitivity, false alarm rate, and response time of a detection system are derived from theoretical considerations. Results are not dependent on the shape of the frequency spectra and are applicable to all noise signals with approximately normally distributed amplitudes. Theoretical formulas were confirmed in a number of experimental parameter studies for the optimal detection of sodium boiling. Computations based on these results predict that local and integral sodium boiling can be detected in a wide core range of the SNR 300 by observing fluctuations of the neutron flux.
