ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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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 Technology
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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.
Aaron Barkatt, Alisa Barkatt, William Sousanpour
Nuclear Technology | Volume 60 | Number 2 | February 1983 | Pages 218-227
Technical Paper | Radiation Effects and Their Relationship to Geological Repository / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33076
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effect of the presence of moderate gamma doses (6×104 Gy) on the leaching of glassy and ceramic waste forms has been investigated. It is found that the leach rates are enhanced by <50% in the case of alumina-free glasses, by a factor of 3 to 4 in the case of glasses that contain 5 to 8% Al2O3, and by a factor of 20 to 100 in the case of SYNROC-D (20% A32O3). Buffer studies show the enhancement to be almost entirely due to a decrease in pH, and the composition dependence of the enhancement factor is interpreted in terms of the sharp rise in both alumina solubility and leach rates of alumina-containing materials with increasing acidity. The radiation-induced pH decrease is partially due to the formation of nitric acid but formic and oxalic acid are also observed to be produced. The concentration of carboxylic acids is as large as that of HNO3. A mechanism is proposed that assumes HNO3 is produced due to the oxidation of dissolved nitrogen, while formic and oxalic acids result from the reduction of CO2 by hydrated electrons. The mechanism is supported by scavenging studies with 2-propanol. The production of carboxylic acids increases the significance of radiation effects on waste form leaching because of the presence of CO2 in subsurface water and because of the tendency of these acids to form complexes, further enhancing the leach rates. Organic acid formation may be particularly important in the case of groundwater, which usually contains significant levels of dissolved CO2 and carbonates.
