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Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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.
Fernando Ferrante, Stuart Lewis, Gareth Parry, Donald Dube, James Chapman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 3 | March 2021 | Pages 452-459
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1782693
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
While general guidance for addressing individual elements of the key principles of risk-informed decision making (RIDM) for large commercial nuclear power plants is available in the literature, the implementation of RIDM can still be challenging, whether a mature RIDM framework exists or not. Traditionally, RIDM approaches have focused strongly on the use of risk information, particularly quantitative results from probabilistic risk assessments, with some individual guidance on other key principles such as defense in depth and safety margin. Addressing these different principles in an integrated, balanced fashion that utilizes the strengths of each principle while understanding the impact of uncertainties is not as easily implemented. In fact, the evaluation of each principle in isolation can lead to inadequate input for decision-making purposes, while heavily relying on any single principle can negate the benefits from using a risk-informed approach. This technical note focuses on the specific challenges of the implementation of a truly integrated RIDM (IRIDM) framework and provides specific solutions and detailed discussions and examples. It discusses important clarifications of the key principles of RIDM and their intended implementation, as well as the interrelationships of the principles. A framework for IRIDM is presented that integrates the information that needs to be considered, documented, and communicated to decision makers.