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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
Toyohiko Yano, Kazunari Sasaki, Tadashi Maruyama, Takayoshi Iseki, Masahiko Ito, Shoji Onose
Nuclear Technology | Volume 93 | Number 3 | March 1991 | Pages 412-415
Technical Note | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34535
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A simple method to measure the change in length of a silicon carbide temperature monitor due to annealing is presented. A differential dilatometer is used to detect the change in length of an irradiated specimen as the temperature of the specimen is raised in steps. The results obtained by this step-heating dilatometry method are in good agreement with measurements obtained with an X-ray diffractometer and a micrometer.
