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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
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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.
A. Delbrassine, L. Smith
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 1 | June 1980 | Pages 129-135
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Reactor Safety / Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32514
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Mixed (U,Pu)C fuel pins of both pellet and sphere-pac designs have been irradiated in epithermal and fast fluxes. The results of postirradiation examination allow a limited comparison of the two designs to be made. Two experiments were performed, one in the Belgian Reactor 2 at Mol, Belgium and the other in the United Kingdom ’s Dounreay Fast Reactor. In each experiment the two fuel designs were coirradiated. Peak burnup of 7.7% was achieved at ratings up to 95 kW· m−1. In each experiment one of the pellet pins failed. Postirradiation examination revealed minor differences in the fuel pin behavior in regard to gas release, clad carburization, and plutonium movement. However, fuel restructuring and the pattern of pin strain were markedly different in the two designs and resulted in the failure of two of the pellet pins. The poorer performance of the pellet pins was due to the design—high bulk density fuel and large fuel clad gap.
