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
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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Mar 2025
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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.
Anderson M. S. Alves, Adino Heimlich, Fernando Lamego, Celso M. F. Lapa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 2 | February 2021 | Pages 316-322
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1747840
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Argonaut reactor is a water-moderated research reactor that was designed by the Argonne National Laboratory. There are currently few reactors of this type under operating conditions in the world, one of which, located at the Nuclear Engineering Institute in Brazil, has been in operation since 1965. This study analyzes a nonpostulated accident caused by the collision of the reactor coverer into the core during crane manipulation. This event causes the release of particulate and volatile fission products into the reactor hall. Thus it was necessary to evaluate the isotopic inventory and the fuel burnup for more than 50 years of operation. These data are used to calculate the source term and the instantaneous dose at 1 m from the reactor core.