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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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
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.
Brian Terranova, Andrew Whittaker, Len Schwer
Nuclear Technology | Volume 204 | Number 2 | November 2018 | Pages 119-130
Critical Review | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1472506
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) NUREG-0800, “Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants: LWR Edition—Design of Structures, Components, Equipment, and Systems,” and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) DOE-STD-1020-2016, “Natural Phenomena Hazards Analysis and Design Criteria for DOE Facilities,” provide guidance for the design of exterior reinforced concrete roof and wall panels against wind-borne missile impact. These documents point to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.76, “Design-Basis Tornado and Tornado Missiles for Nuclear Power Plants”; RG 1.221, “Design-Basis Hurricane and Hurricane Missiles for Nuclear Power Plants”; and ANSI/ANS-2.3-2011(R2016), “Estimating Tornado, Hurricane, and Extreme Straight Line Wind Characteristics at Nuclear Facility Sites,” for the definition of missiles and impact velocities. Empirical formulas are used to calculate local responses of reinforced concrete walls and slabs impacted by missiles, where these formulas were calibrated using test data that are no longer available for reinterpretation. This critical review analyzes the accuracy of these empirical formulas using data collected from impact tests conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute and Calspan Corporation in the 1970s. Schedule 40 pipes are used as the impacting missile for this review because it is referenced in both NRC and DOE guidance. Outer and effective diameters of the pipe are used to compare empirical predictions and experimental results. None of the empirical relationships predict the local response of reinforced concrete walls and slabs impacted by tornado- and hurricane-borne missiles with the level of accuracy expected for analysis of a nuclear power plant. More accurate design equations are needed, which could be developed by impact analysis of reinforced concrete panels using numerical models that have been rigorously validated using test data. New experiments will be needed to enable validation of numerical models.