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
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
John Pevey, Ondřej Chvála, Sarah Davis, Vladimir Sobes, J. Wes Hines
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 4 | April 2020 | Pages 609-619
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1664198
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper discusses the design of a fast spectrum subcritical assembly utilizing a genetic algorithm. The facility proposed in this paper would be a flexible platform for expanding the knowledge of fast spectrum neutron cross sections needed for next-generation fast reactor designs. The Fast Neutron Source (FNS) would be composed of both a fast and a thermal region to minimize the amount of uranium fuel and reduce overall material costs while maintaining flexibility for many potential fast neutron cross-section experiments. The FNS would be customizable and interchangeable down to 1 × 1 × 10-in.-volume sections. An optimal core design requires the adjustment of many factors to both reduce the cost and accurately reproduce the spectra of interest during an experiment. A genetic algorithm was developed to optimize this complex design problem while reducing design time and expert judgment. The genetic algorithm was able to vary multiple design factors in an unattended fashion from a random initial population of designs and arrived at a design comparable to an expertly designed assembly.