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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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.
Joshua A. Hubbard, Timothy J. Boyle, Ethan T. Zepper, Alexander Brown, Taylor Settecerri, Joshua L. Santarpia, Nelson Bell, Joseph A. Zigmond, Steven S. Storch, Brenda J. Maes, Nicole D. Zayas, Dora K. Wiemann, Marissa Ringgold, Fernando Guerrero, Xavier J. Robinson, Gabriel A. Lucero, Laura J. Lemieux
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 1 | January 2022 | Pages 137-153
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1880255
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Solid waste samples consisting of shredded cellulose, coated with either mesoparticles of metallic salts or dried metal nitrate (lutetium, ytterbium, or depleted uranium) solutions, were generated to mimic solid nuclear waste. After burning these samples, the masses of the aerosolized metal cations were quantified by leaching them from air filters and analyzing the leachate with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The airborne release fractions (ARFs) for Lu and depleted uranium nitrates were 1 × 10−4, and 3 × 10−3 for Lu and depleted uranium mesoparticle salts, respectively. Uncertainties in ARFs were approximately 10% for the metal nitrates and 30% for the metallic mesoparticles. These data are most applicable to waste materials with 1% metal mass loading where the initial respirable fraction of contaminant particles is one. ARFs were consistent across the two metals, but there was an order of magnitude difference with respect to the physical and chemical form (mesoparticle salt versus nitrate). Cellulose combustion literature indicates that combustion pathways were likely affected by off-gassing and endothermic decomposition reactions. In comparison to ARF values from DOE-HDBK-3010-94, “Airborne Release Fractions/Rates and Respirable Fractions for Nonreactor Nuclear Facilities,” this dataset was consistent with previous results but provides a well-characterized and reproducible method for doping cellulosic materials with nuclear waste surrogates to serve as a baseline for future experimental and computational works.