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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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!
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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?
H. Kaikkonen, J.-P. Salo, P. Silvennoinen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 38 | Number 2 | April 1978 | Pages 312-320
Technical Paper | Low-Temperature Nuclear Heat / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32029
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Optimization of the back-end services of the fuel cycle is solved by linear programming. A mathematical model governs the flow of fissile material from the reactor to spent fuel storages, to reprocessing and/or ultimate disposal, and to the fabrication of mixed-oxide fuel. The computer program developed is amenable to the optimization of the overall material flow together with recycle schedules and capacities under the prevailing market conditions and their trends. The income tax consideration is not included in the analysis, and therefore the results are applicable mainly to government-owned power production. Using the nuclear program of Finland, calculations are made to study the break-even reprocessing costs with regard to the throwaway costs. According to our conservative price estimates, the recycle benefit amounts to some 6.4 to 6.9% as calculated from the total discounted fuel cost over the years from 1977 to 2004. Over the time period of a few years at the beginning of the plutonium recycle, the levelized costs would be lower in the throwaway case, which is contrary to the overall result.
