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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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.
Chaoliang Xu, Xiangbing Liu, Yuanfei Li, Wangjie Qian, Wenqing Jia, Qiwei Quan, Jian Yin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 6 | June 2022 | Pages 1083-1088
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1997058
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nitrogen ion implantation can be used to improve the surface mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steel. In this study, austenitic stainless steel was irradiated with 1.1 MeV N ions at room temperature up to 15 displacements per atom. Then the microstructural and mechanical properties were studied by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and nano-indenter. A finer synchrotron radiation diffraction pattern is obtained compared with traditional X-ray diffraction, indicating an expanded austenite phase γN and CrN phase after being irradiated to several damage levels. An irradiation-induced martensite phase appears first and then disappears with increased damage. The enrichment of the nitrogen supply in austenitic stainless steel can explain this phenomenon. The hardness data show an irradiation hardening phenomenon. Two different inflexion points hc1 and hc2 in H2 versus 1/h curves are observed, and the real hardness of the irradiation damaged layer can be obtained from the H2 versus 1/h curve between hc1 and hc2.