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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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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.
Eugene D. Clayton, Hugh K. Clark, Gordon Walker, Richard A. Libby
Nuclear Technology | Volume 75 | Number 2 | November 1986 | Pages 225-229
Technical Note | Criticality Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT86-A33866
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Subcommittee 8 of the Standards Committee of the American Nuclear Society is revising the Standard for Nuclear Criticality Control and Safety of Homogeneous Plutonium-Uranium Fuel Mixtures Outside Reactors to include limits on heterogeneous systems. In connection with this effort, a number of criticality calculations were completed for mixed-oxide (PuO2 + UO2) fuel pins in water. The concentration of PuO2 in the UO2 (natural uranium) covered the range from 3.0 to 34 wt%. The isotopic makeup of the plutonium was also varied, up to 25 wt% 240Pu and 15 wt% 241Pu. A search was made on fuel pin diameters and water-to-fuel volume ratios to obtain minimum critical dimensions and masses for a given fuel composition. Calculations made independently by several different members of the Work Group are compiled and compared, together with the proposed subcritical control limits for the Standard. Some difficulties were encountered with calculations pertaining to 30% PuO2 at 240Pu concentrations at water-to-fuel volume ratios and fuel pin diameters outside the area covered by any critical experiment. For this reason, dimensional limits on heterogeneous systems are not being proposed at this time for the Standard with 30% PuO2 at a 240Pu content of 25%. In general, for a given fuel composition of mixed oxides, a heterogeneous arrangement of fuel pins of optimum diameter in water results in substantially smaller minimum critical dimensions than are obtainable for an aqueous homogeneous plutonium-uranium fuel mixture.