ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
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.”
Robert P. Martin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 193 | Number 1 | January 2016 | Pages 96-112
Technical Paper | Special Issue on the RELAP5-3D Computer Code | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-143
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper reviews the historical and contemporary precedence regarding the development of knowledge, its reformulation in computer codes, and subsequent application in decision making. It highlights the practical challenges of this process as it applies to the investigation of engineered systems to deliver on both promised benefits and protection from postulated failures. A model for demonstrating model content, completeness, and consistency is described, invoking and extending a knowledge/content model attributed to Popper. While the specific example examining the evolution of the thermal-hydraulic knowledge base applied for nuclear power plant safety analysis and its capture in the RELAP series of computer analysis codes is presented, the framework is general, true to the scientific method, and thus broadly applicable. It concludes that while content of our knowledge base is perpetually increasing, completeness and consistency are fundamentally unattainable; however, within a well-designed evaluation methodology, measurable proof, sufficient for regulatory deliberation, is possible.