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
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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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.
Lane S. Paschal, C. L. Bentley,† Michael E. Dunn,‡ S. Goluoglu, R. E. Pevey, H. L. Dodds
Nuclear Technology | Volume 119 | Number 3 | September 1997 | Pages 295-305
Technical Paper | Nuclear Criticality Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT97-A35405
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A criticality safety study of diffusion cascade coolers in a shutdown state is presented. The coolers represent six typical cascade coolers at a gaseous diffusion plant with accumulated deposits of UO2F2. The study involves keff calculations for the coolers with various distributions of UO2F2, which are assumed as part of several hypothetical accident scenarios. The results show that at least two independent failures must occur in order to have a criticality. Additionally, the distributions chosen represent the upper bounds for keff. Individual results show that the keff values for the cascade coolers designed for 80 and 97% enriched UF6 with deposit amounts <2.409 and 2.185 kg, respectively, will not exceed 0.9 for the accident scenarios modeled. All other coolers require shell-side flooding with H2O in order to cause a criticality, which is possible only if two or more independent failures occur.