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
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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
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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?
F. S. Gunnerson, T. R. Yackle
Nuclear Technology | Volume 54 | Number 1 | July 1981 | Pages 113-117
Technical Note | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32759
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Many postulated nuclear reactor accidents result in dryout or film boiling within the nuclear core. To minimize fuel rod damage and potential rod failure, safe or lower cladding fuel temperatures must be reestablished by encour aging coolant-cladding contact. This process is commonly referred to as quenching or rewetting, and these terms are often incorrectly assumed to be synonymous. Quench and rewet are distinctly different phenomena. Quench is the rapid cooling of a hot solid surface (fuel rod cladding) resulting from enhanced heat transfer conditions and does not necessitate liquid-solid contact. Rewet, how ever, implies direct liquid-solid contact and the establish ment of a liquid-solid-vapor triple interface. The rewet temperature is normally lower than the quench temperature. Estimation of quench and rewet temperatures appears to be possible from first principles.
