ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
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
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
Jun 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
July 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NRC engineers share their expertise at the University of Puerto Rico
Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.
Jacob Keese, D. Keith Hollingsworth
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 1 | January 2024 | Pages 165-179
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2216989
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A more advanced form of nuclear propulsion known as centrifugal nuclear thermal propulsion (CNTP) promises increased propellant temperatures that could lead to a high specific impulse in the range of 1500 to 1800 s with hydrogen. This design has the potential of opening opportunities to perform missions to destinations much farther than currently possible. However, the CNTP concept poses many engineering challenges due to the nuclear fuel operating at high temperature in a liquid phase. A one-dimensional, steady-state thermal model of the liquid uranium fuel has been constructed to understand the limitations of this concept and the potential design considerations. Three related basic designs are considered, and key design parameters are varied in order to predict the temperature levels and void fractions across the liquid uranium pool.