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Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Antonio F. Dias, Laurance D. Eisenhart, Diane M. Bell, Terry J. Garrett, Glenn J. Neises, Lance J. Agee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 100 | Number 2 | November 1992 | Pages 193-202
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34742
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The steamline break accident is one of several specified severe transients addressed in the final safety analysis report for any pressurized water reactor plant as part of the licensing procedure. A rupture in a main steamline in the secondary system causes a sudden cooling of the water in the corresponding primary loop. The cold water flowing into part of the core represents a positive reactivity insertion that must be contained by control rods, which are scrammed into the core almost immediately. Later in the scenario, soluble boron reaches the core from the emergency core cooling system. When simulating a steamline break accident during the licensing procedure, many conservative assumptions are added to the transient description. Historically, a steamline break analysis is performed with a system analysis code like RETRAN, using a rather simplified (point kinetics) description of the core. The three-dimensionality of the event within the core is accounted for by constant “blending factors,” which are used to calculate the evolving point kinetics parameters based on a simplistic cold and hot partition of the core. The ARROTTA-01 and VIPRE-02 computer codes are coupled to allow a detailed three-dimensional simulation of the reactor core during a steamline break event. The results show that a much milder transient is observed than when a point kinetics treatment was used. Test cases study the influence of different core modeling considerations on the overall simulation. The advent of very fast and extremely affordable computing machines (e.g., workstations) should cause the review of some of the simplified approaches initially adopted for many core simulations. More complex and detailed codes can now be routinely employed.