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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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?
F. A. Garner, C. W. Hunter, G. D. Johnson, E. P. Lippincott, J. O. Schiffgens, Harry Farrar IV
Nuclear Technology | Volume 58 | Number 2 | August 1982 | Pages 203-217
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A32932
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The inner surfaces of both fuel pin cladding and helium-pressurized creep tubes develop near-surface enhancements of helium above that generated in the cladding by (n,α) events. The amount and distribution of the additional helium can be predicted from knowledge of the neutron spectrum, component geometry, and adjacent materials. The major sources of injected helium are ternary fission events in the fuel, recoil-injected helium from the cover gas, and (n,α) events occurring both in the tube and its surrounding materials. While the near-surface enhancement is shown not to be solely responsible for the loss of strength and ductility observed in fuel cladding, it appears that the additional helium acts synergistically with other phenomena associated with fuel adjacency to cause a reduction of cladding lifetime.