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
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
RP3C Community of Practice’s fifth anniversary
In February, the Community of Practice (CoP) webinar series, hosted by the American Nuclear Society Standards Board’s Risk-informed, Performance-based Principles and Policies Committee (RP3C), celebrated its fifth anniversary. Like so many online events, these CoPs brought people together at a time when interacting with others became challenging in early 2020. Since the kickoff CoP, which highlighted the impact that systems engineering has on the design of NuScale’s small modular reactor, the last Friday of most months has featured a new speaker leading a discussion on the use of risk-informed, performance-based (RIPB) thinking in the nuclear industry. Providing a venue to convene for people within ANS and those who found their way online by another route, CoPs are an opportunity for the community to receive answers to their burning questions about the subject at hand. With 50–100 active online participants most months, the conversation is always lively, and knowledge flows freely.
Kenneth C. Radford, Bruce M. Argall, Herbert W. Keller, Richard C. Goodspeed
Nuclear Technology | Volume 60 | Number 3 | March 1983 | Pages 344-351
Technical Paper | LWR Control Materials—I and II / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33121
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A unique advanced design neutron absorber that provides significantly enhanced nuclear characteristics when compared with traditional designs has been developed for use in nuclear reactors. The design is a burnable absorber rod comprised of thin-walled Al2O3-B4C annular pellets contained within two concentric and sealed Zircaloy tubes so as to allow reactor coolant inside the center tube as well as outside the outer tube. A process was devised for fabrication of production quantities of the annular pellets that also satisfies special burnable absorber rod design constraints and performance requirements. This development has resulted in improved utilization of uranium resources and increased fuel management flexibiliy.
