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
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Latest News
BWXT will scout potential TRISO fuel production sites in Wyoming
BWX Technologies Inc. announced today that its Advanced Technologies subsidiary has signed a cooperation agreement with the state of Wyoming to evaluate locations and requirements for siting a potential new TRISO nuclear fuel fabrication facility in the state.
Werner Burkart
Nuclear Technology | Volume 60 | Number 1 | January 1983 | Pages 114-123
Technical Paper | Radioactive Biology and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33107
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Radon and its short-lived daughters present in indoor air are currently estimated to be responsible for dose equivalents of ∼ 30 mSv/yr (3 rem/yr) to small portions of the respiratory tract. Linear extrapolation from the dose-response values of uranium miners heavily exposed to the same nuclides would suggest that the majority of lung cancers in the nonsmoking population are caused by environmental 222Rn. Such projections cause major concern since both the high linear energy transfer of the alpha radiation involved and the amount of radiation delivered to the critical tissue, which cannot be considered low at environmental exposure levels, speak against beneficial threshold effects in this case. Higher indoor radon concentrations and shifts in the disequilibrium of the short-lived daughters in energy-efficient homes, caused mostly by reduced air exchange rates, will lead to a severalfold increase of lung cancer incidence from radon. Based on the above assumption, ∼100 additional lung cancer death/yr. million will result from an increase in radionuclide concentrations in indoor air. In situations where soil or building materials contain elevated radium levels, living in energy-efficient houses may be as dangerous as heavy smoking. Possible means of reducing indoor radon levels in existing buildings range from diffusion barriers to heat exchangers. The latter devices allow high air exchange rates, which also reduce other critical indoor pollutants. Judged by the standards of the nuclear industry, the costs of reducing exposure to radon and its daughters are very low ($3000 U.S./person. Sv).