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
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ARPA-E announces $40 million to develop transmutation technologies for UNF
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced $40 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technologies to enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel into less-radioactive substances. According to ARPA-E, the new initiative addresses one of the agency’s core goals as outlined by Congress: to provide transformative solutions to improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Joseph C. Martz, Franz J. Freibert, David L. Clark
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 1 | December 2021 | Pages S266-S285
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1913035
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We describe the wartime challenges associated with the rapid developments in plutonium chemistry and metallurgy that were necessary to produce the core of the Trinity Device. Beginning with microgram quantities of plutonium metal late in 1943, initial measurements showed a wide and confusing variance in density and other properties. These confusing results were the first clues to the astounding complexity of plutonium. As this complexity was revealed, it introduced new challenges for the fabrication of kilogram-scale parts. In a remarkable period from January 1944 to June 1945, Manhattan Project scientists made rapid progress in understanding plutonium chemistry and metallurgy. By early 1945, they had discovered five of the six ambient-pressure phases of unalloyed plutonium and reported the density of these phases to within a value of 0.1 g/cm3 of those accepted today. They solved the stability problem introduced by these phases with a rapid alloy development program that ultimately identified gallium as the preferred element to stabilize the δ-phase, producing a plutonium alloy still of scientific and technical interest today. We conclude with a description of postwar developments in these areas, including applications of wartime plutonium metallurgy to civilian applications in nuclear reactors. We dedicate this paper to the memory of Ed Hammel, the Manhattan Project plutonium metallurgist whose previous description and documentation of plutonium history during the war has been essential in our research.