ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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.
Mohammad Modarres, Steven Krahn, James O’Brien
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 3 | March 2021 | Pages 424-440
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1805258
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper outlines research on understanding, characterizing, and managing conservatisms in safety analyses. This research includes a review of national and international approaches for developing and using conservative and best-estimate analyses. A probabilistic approach is discussed to support reducing conservatism while maintaining safety margins. An example of the proposed approach is applied to two case studies for nonreactor nuclear facilities. The objective of this work is to provide a means for better understanding and managing risks associated with nuclear facilities. The results from these examples show that conservative estimates could lead to excessive safety margins when compared to the best-estimate values; the amount of excess margin may be as high as one or more orders of magnitude.