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
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
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ARPA-E announces $40 million to develop transmutation technologies for UNF
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced $40 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technologies to enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel into less-radioactive substances. According to ARPA-E, the new initiative addresses one of the agency’s core goals as outlined by Congress: to provide transformative solutions to improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Ming Zhi Huang, Chong Zhou, Pu Yang, Wei Shi Wan, Zuo Kang Lin, Ye Dai
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 1 | January 2023 | Pages 15-36
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2096390
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The existing thermal neutron molten salt reactor design has a complicated online processing system that has many technical difficulties. A thorium-based molten salt fast energy amplifier (TMSFEA) driven by a proton accelerator can operate stably for nearly 40 years at a rated thermal power of 300 MW without online processing. In order to simplify the core structure of TMSFEA, the core design is based on a hollow and moderator-free cylindrical geometry. The molten salt in the core serves as both fuel salt and spallation target. In this paper, based on the previous TMSFEA core neutron physics design, the core thermal-hydraulic design principles of TMSFEA are proposed, and a detailed core design with specific core structures as well as three-dimensional core thermal-hydraulic performance are obtained. Through computational fluid dynamics steady-state analysis, the arrangement of the core inlet and outlet and the shape of the core sidewall are optimized. Suitable distribution plates and skirt plates are proposed, and two corresponding lower plenum structures are designed to improve the flow field in the core. This study provides TMSFEA with core structures that meet the thermal-hydraulic design principles and also provides ideas for similar hollow reactor core designs.