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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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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May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
J. Jung, H. Y. Kim, S. M. An
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 2 | February 2022 | Pages 268-283
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1929769
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For analysis of an ex-vessel severe accident, the corium melt conditions inside the reactor vessel are important at the time of the reactor vessel failure together with the reactor vessel failure mode. To determine penetration tube failure in the lower head of the reactor vessel during a severe accident, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute developed the PENetration Tube Analysis Program 2.0 (PENTAP 2.0) and carried out validation work based on experimental data that can simulate penetration tube heatup, rupture, penetration weld failure, and penetration tube ejection failure. A numerical simulation was undertaken to investigate the effect of the presence of melt in a tube, the expansion direction of the reactor vessel hole, and wall ablation on tube failure using PENTAP 2.0. The simulation results showed that the presence of melt inside the tube helps prevent tube ejection. When melt is not in the penetration tube, tube ejection is strongly dependent on the expansion direction of the reactor vessel hole.