ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
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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.
Andrew Zillmer, William Green, Craig Tyler, Brian Gross, Erik Rosvall, Austen Fradeneck, Joshua Fishler, David Reeder, Ryan Marlow, Jagoda Urban-Klaehn, Michael Reichenberger, Mark Hill, Richard Howard
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 1 | December 2022 | Pages S1-S10
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2105774
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Plutonium-238 (238Pu) Production program at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is actively qualifying irradiation targets containing 237Np for the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) to produce 238Pu for future National Aeronautics and Space Administration missions. INL qualified and loaded seven targets in the ATR’s south flux trap for cycle 169A, which occurred in Spring 2021. The irradiation qualification program has expanded to additional ATR irradiation positions after two baseline production targets in three positions validated significant production of 238Pu. The validation model was followed by the PFS-1 experimental test in the ATR Critical Facility that verified 238Pu production cross sections. This paper outlines the progress and status of the 238Pu production program at INL. The qualification effort, safety analysis, hardware status, and future activities for qualification of an updated target design for use in the ATR are discussed.
