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
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
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.
Hangbok Choi, Myunghee Choi, Ryan Hon
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 3 | March 2019 | Pages 486-505
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1495001
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calculations have been conducted for the KRITZ-2 (KRITZ-LWR-RESR-001/002/003) and the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) (FFTF-LMFR-RESR-001) Nuclear Energy Agency benchmark problems using the PARCS reactor simulation code with lattice parameters generated by the DRAGON reactor physics code and with the MCNP6 Monte Carlo code. The benchmark analyses examined the DRAGON cross-section library, PARCS energy group structure, DRAGON fuel assembly modeling, and nuclide self-shielding effect. For KRITZ-2, the PARCS 2-group core calculations with a DRAGON 361-group library based on ENDF/B-VII.1 reproduced the benchmark keff with a root-mean-square (rms) error of 0.19% δk. DRAGON/PARCS also predicted the fission rates within 5%. The MCNP results are consistent with the DRAGON/PARCS results but with a small underestimation when compared to the benchmark value. For FFTF, the PARCS 33-group core calculations underpredicted the benchmark keff by 0.19% δk while the MCNP calculation overpredicted the benchmark keff by 0.23% δk. The neutron spectrum distributions calculated by PARCS and MCNP are consistent with measured data. Since the energy boundary values of the measured neutron spectrum are not available, the calculated spectra could not be directly compared to the measured value. The DRAGON/PARCS solution to a numerical benchmark of a gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), i.e., the Energy Multiplier Module, predicted the keff and assembly power with 0.46% δk and 3.7% rms error, respectively, when compared to the MCNP simulation. The benchmark calculations of the selected thermal and fast reactors have shown that DRAGON/PARCS simulates small reactor cores with good accuracy.
