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
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?
B. A. Loomis, H. R. Thresh, G. L. Fogle, S. B. Gerber
Nuclear Technology | Volume 55 | Number 3 | December 1981 | Pages 617-627
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32807
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The design of a Zircaloy-2-clad uranium alloy (450 ppm carbon, 250 ppm iron, 350 ppm silicon) target that can function as a pulsed spallation neutron source on interaction of a pulsed 500-MeV proton beam with the uranium nuclei is determined by consideration of irradiation damage, energy deposition, and thermal cycling effects in the target. The designed target is comprised of eight watercooled Zircaloy-2-clad uranium alloy disks, 10 cm in diameter and 2. 7 cm thick operating at a maximum uranium alloy centerline temperature of 330°C. The production of the Zircaloy-2-clad uranium alloy disks involves remelting of the cast uranium alloy by the consumable electrode technique and bonding of the Zircaloy-2 to the uranium alloy by subjecting the composite to an isostatic-helium pressure at 840°C. The lifetime of the disks in the target before cracking of the Zircaloy-2 cladding owing to lowfrequency thermal cycling fatigue is estimated from stress calculations to be ∼500 days. The results of thermal cycling tests on a disk tend to confirm the results of the stress calculations.
