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
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2025
Latest News
State legislation: Delaware delving into nuclear energy possibilities
A bill that would create a nuclear energy task force in Delaware has passed the state Senate and is now being considered in the House of Representatives.
Barry L. Butterfield (Retired), Daniel B. Bullen (DNFSB)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 330-335
An important component of the proposed Yucca Mountain Project was the development of a new rail line intended to transport waste casks from the main U.S. rail system to the repository site. The early phases of repository development identified five corridors for consideration: Carlin, Jean, Valley Modified, Caliente, and Caliente-Chalk Mountain. Later in the process, DOE added a new corridor, Mina, based on conversations with the Walker River Paiute Tribal Council. In the Final Environmental Impact Statement (RA-EIS) for the rail alignments, DOE concluded that two rail corridors, Caliente and Mina, would be considered in detail. Nevada Rail Partners, a subcontractor to the Yucca Mountain Project management and operations contractor, evaluated ten possible alternate alignments within the Caliente Corridor, and four alternate alignments within the Mina Corridor. The evaluations included alternative alignments (including rail design criteria), rail construction, yard facilities, and rail operations issues. This paper briefly describes these evaluations, and provides a summary of the engineering evaluation of facility requirements, system controls, construction planning, and air quality issues.
Development of conceptual design drawings for alternate alignments was relatively straightforward. The conceptual design process also included development of preliminary construction plans that provided a basis to the environmental contractor who prepared the RA-EIS. This paper focuses on the lessons learned throughout this conceptual design process as well as from a review of public comments received on the RA-EIS. These lessons address issues associated with general design principles, resource impacts, and alignment selection. This paper also provides a strategic assessment of issues regarding the new paradigm for environmental activism. These issues should be incorporated into the evaluation of any updated transportation plan for Yucca Mountain, should that site be re-considered, or any new site identified by either the Department of Energy or a private sector applicant.
