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
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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
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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?
S. K. Bhattacharyya, D. C. Wade, R. G. Bucher, D. M. Smith, R. D. McKnight, L. G. LeSage
Nuclear Technology | Volume 46 | Number 3 | December 1979 | Pages 517-524
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Reactor Safety / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT79-A32360
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Integral physics parameters of several representative, idealized meltdown liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) configurations were measured in mockup critical assemblies on the Zero Power Reactor 9 at Argonne National Laboratory. The experiments were designed to provide data for the validation of analytical methods used in the neutronics part of LMFBR accident analyses. Large core distortions were introduced in these experiments (involving 18.5% core volume), and the reactivity worths of configuration changes were determined. The neutronics parameters measured in the various configurations showed large changes on core distortion. Both diffusion theory and transport theory methods were shown to mispredict the experimental configuration eigenvalues. In addition, diffusion theory methods were shown to result in a nonconservative misprediction of the experimental configuration change worths.
