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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
January 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Jonathan G. Teague, Roberta N. Mulford
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 8 | August 2020 | Pages 1195-1212
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1701345
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Impact testing of general purpose heat sources (GPHSs) and their component GPHS clads is done to benchmark extensive safety calculations quantifying launch safety. Impact testing is done in the Isotope Fuels Impact Tester (IFIT), a large-bore gas gun at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Efforts to conduct an impact test at the extreme low end of the temperature range for launch have highlighted uncertainties in determining the GPHS clad temperature during impact tests. In IFIT impact tests, the GPHS clad temperature is inferred from the temperature of the radiological confinement. Heating tests have been done in the IFIT to determine the fueled clad surface temperature as a function of the surface temperature of the tantalum radiological confinement can. Direct measurement of clad temperatures in the impact configuration are described and the effect of emissivity of the various components indicated. The analytical model used to predict clad temperatures is seen to work well at temperatures above 625°C. Appropriate values of emissivity for use in the model were measured in the experiment. Calculation of the experimental clad impact temperature using the ANSYS thermal transport model is necessary at clad temperatures below 625°C. ANSYS modeling indicates that the clad temperature in a recent low-temperature impact was outside the relevant range for launch safety modeling of GPHS clad behavior.