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Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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Latest News
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Adam Davis
Nuclear Technology | Volume 200 | Number 1 | October 2017 | Pages 66-79
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1338883
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This research investigates the effect of heterogeneity in slabs of aluminum, stainless steel, and polyethylene on photon and neutron transmission. This work considers whether novel, heterogeneous combinations of these materials provides improved photon shielding (for metal-infiltrated polyethylene) or neutron shielding (for polyethylene-infiltrated metal). Often, layers of a hydrogenous material such as polyethylene must be combined with layers of a higher-atomic-number material to provide shielding for both photons and neutrons. Several heterogeneous shield configurations are studied in which slabs of a base material are implanted with metal stud arrays ranging from 5 × 5 × 5 to 11 × 11 × 11 arrays. For metal slabs infiltrated with polyethylene studs, it is found that the performance of the heterogeneous slabs as neutron shields relative to the homogeneous material is source-energy dependent. This is a larger concern for polyethylene-infiltrated aluminum (PA) than it is for polyethylene-infiltrated stainless steel (PS) as introduction of these studs impairs PA’s performance as a photon shield (relative to solid aluminum) more than it does for PS relative to solid stainless steel. For polyethylene slabs infiltrated with aluminum or stainless steel studs, it is found that introduction of a sufficiently spaced array of metal studs with a moderate-to-high photon absorption cross section will improve the photon-shielding properties of the shield without impairing the neutron-shielding properties. Use of an insufficiently opaque material or insufficiently wide spacing of the studs will impair the photon-shielding properties, thus making it a less effective shield than homogeneous polyethylene alone. This is a larger concern for PA than it is for PS. This research demonstrates that heterogeneity is more beneficial for stainless steel shields than it is for heterogeneous aluminum shields relative to homogeneous slabs of those materials.