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
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
Charles W. Forsberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 166 | Number 1 | April 2009 | Pages 18-26
Technical Paper | Special Issue on Nuclear Hydrogen Production, Control, and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A6964
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Hydrogen Intermediate and Peak Electrical System (HIPES) is a new proposed system that uses low-cost off-peak electricity or base-load nuclear energy to economically produce electricity for peak electrical demand, spinning reserve, and power regulation. HIPES has three major subsystems. Hydrogen and oxygen are produced from water using (a) off-peak electricity by methods such as electrolysis or (b) steady-state hydrogen production methods such as nuclear-hydrogen production with thermochemical cycles. The two gases are stored in large underground facilities using the same technologies used for the seasonal storage of natural gas. Peak electricity is produced by an advanced steam turbine with a burner that combines stored H2, O2, and water to produce high-pressure 1500°C steam, which serves as feed to a special high-temperature steam turbine with actively cooled blades. The steam plant efficiency is ~70%. HIPES power outputs can be rapidly varied to match changing electricity demand because the slow-response component of a traditional steam system (the boiler) has been eliminated. The economics are based on (a) the low cost of large-scale underground gas storage, (b) a low-capital-cost efficient method to convert hydrogen and oxygen into peak electricity (no steam boiler), and (c) the large differences in the prices of base-load and off-peak power relative to the premium prices paid for peak power production, spinning reserve, and power regulation. The technology, markets, and economics are described.