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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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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El Salvador: Looking to nuclear
In 2022, El Salvador’s leadership decided to expand its modest, mostly hydro- and geothermal-based electricity system, which is supported by expensive imported natural gas and diesel generation. They chose to use advanced nuclear reactors, preferably fueled by thorium-based fuels, to power their civilian efforts. The choice of thorium was made to inform the world that the reactor program was for civilian purposes only, and so they chose a fuel that was plentiful, easy to source and work with, and not a proliferation risk.
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.