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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
January 2025
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Latest News
Article considers incorporation of AI into nuclear power plant operations
The potential application of artificial intelligence to the operation of nuclear power plants is explored in an article published in late December in the Washington Examiner. The article, written by energy and environment reporter Callie Patteson, presents the views of a number of experts, including Yavuz Arik, a strategic energy consultant.
Brent J. Lewis, Anne C. Harnden-Gillis, Leslie G. I. Bennett
Nuclear Technology | Volume 105 | Number 3 | March 1994 | Pages 366-380
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34937
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Increasing, but still low, radiation fields due to a release of fission products have been observed in the light-water-filled reactor container of SLOWPOKE-2 reactors fueled with a highly enriched uranium alloy. To investigate this phenomenon, samples of water coolant and headspace gas from the reactor container have been examined by gamma spectroscopy methods for several reactors with various burnup. A model has been developed to describe the kinetic behavior of the activity concentrations of the short-lived iodine and noble gas species in the reactor container water, and the noble gas concentrations in the reactor container headspace. The most likely source of the fission product release is an area of uranium-bearing material exposed to the coolant at the end weld line of the fuel elements that originated at the time of fuel fabrication. The fission product release analysis is consistent with observations from an underwater visual examination of a high-burnup core and a metallographic examination of archived fuel elements.