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
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
January 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Reboot: Nuclear needs a success . . . anywhere
The media have gleefully resurrected the language of a past nuclear renaissance. Beyond the hype and PR, many people in the nuclear community are taking a more measured view of conditions that could lead to new construction: data center demand, the proliferation of new reactor designs and start-ups, and the sudden ascendance of nuclear energy as the power source everyone wants—or wants to talk about.
Once built, large nuclear reactors can provide clean power for at least 80 years—outlasting 10 to 20 presidential administrations. Smaller reactors can provide heat and power outputs tailored to an end user’s needs. With all the new attention, are we any closer to getting past persistent supply chain and workforce issues and building these new plants? And what will the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president mean for nuclear?
As usual, there are more questions than answers, and most come down to money. Several developers are engaging with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or have already applied for a license, certification, or permit. But designs without paying customers won’t get built. So where are the customers, and what will it take for them to commit?
D. C. Arwood, T. W. Kerlin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 35 | Number 1 | August 1977 | Pages 12-32
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT77-A31847
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A dynamic model was formulated for a new type of steam generator that will be used in a number of pressurized water plants currently on order. This type of steam generator, called an integral economizer or preheat steam generator, introduces part of the feedwater directly into the riser section of a U-tube recirculation-type system. A dynamic model provides a tool for simulation and control studies of this new design. The model is a 24th-order, linearized, moving boundary representation of the system. It includes nodal mass and energy balances for primary fluid, tube metal, and secondary fluid sections. Flows are determined by quasi-static momentum balances. Transients were simulated using the models for various perturbations of interest. Confirmation must await operation of plants with the new steam generator tests, but the model gives physically plausible results. The model provides a tool with adequate detail for control and simulation studies, but with moderate complexity and computer cost.