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
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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Jan 2025
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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?
R. D. Gasser, W. T. Pratt
Nuclear Technology | Volume 47 | Number 2 | February 1980 | Pages 282-307
Technical Paper | Reactor Siting | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32433
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An assessment is made of the containment margin available in the Fast Flux Test Facility to mitigate the consequences of a postulated failure of in-vessel post-accident heat removal following a hypothetical core disruptive accident. The consequences of a number of assumed meltdown configurations (both in-vessel and ex-vessel) are assessed using the CACECO (CAvity, CEll, COntainment) containment analysis computer code together with currently available melt front penetration models. The sensitivity of the accident scenarios to a number of crucial assumptions is established by scoping studies. It is concluded from both the in-vessel and ex-vessel analyses that sodium vapor combustion is a major source of reactor containment building (RCB) pressurization. The conditions (a combination of sodiumconcrete reaction, pool size, and decay heat level) that most rapidly bring the sodium to boiling, together with those that enhance mass transfer of sodium vapor to the RCB, are the ones that most significantly affect the pressure response.
