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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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.
Martin Bengtsson, Peter Jansson, Ulrika Bäckström, Fredrik Johansson, Anders Sjöland
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 2 | February 2022 | Pages 295-302
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1880851
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A method to determine the absolute activity of 137Cs in irradiated nuclear fuel is presented. Using a well-known point-like calibration source in combination with measurements of the gamma-ray intensity from the nuclear fuel and Monte Carlo calculations based on the nominal measurement geometry, the activity content can be determined without prior knowledge of the intrinsic detection efficiency of the gamma-ray detector. The presented method is tested using measurements of the 137Cs intensity from spent nuclear fuel of the pressurized water type at the central interim storage in Sweden. Using an assumption of homogeneous distribution of 137Cs throughout the fuel, we demonstrate a linear relationship between measured activity and the activity calculated by a state-of-the-art simulation code. For future studies, we suggest some factors that potentially can decrease the uncertainty in the correlation between measured and calculated activity.