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
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Discovering, Making, and Testing New Materials: SRNL’s Center For Hierarchical Waste Form Materials
Savannah River National Laboratory researchers are building on the laboratory’s legacy of using cutting-edge science to effectively immobilize nuclear waste in innovative ways. As part of the Center for Hierarchical Waste Form Materials, SRNL is leveraging its depth of experience in radiological waste management to explore new frontiers in the industry.
J. J. Jarrell, R. A. Joseph III, R. M. Cumberland, G. M. Petersen (ORNL), E. A. Kalinina (SNL)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 639-646
The potential development and deployment of a standardized canister system represents an opportunity for an integrated approach to address the storage, transportation, and disposal issues in an integrated waste management system (IWMS). However, this deployment has the potential for significant system-wide impacts regardless of timing and method of implementation. This paper describes an evaluation that investigates using standardized, triple-purpose (storage, transportation, and disposal) canisters within the IWMS. Specifically, this evaluation documents a quantitative comparison of the impacts of implementing standardized canisters against the status quo of continuing to load existing canisters that could be challenging to dispose of in a number of different geologic repository concepts being considered by the US Department of Energy. This evaluation focuses on spent nuclear fuel that (1) would be loaded into standardized canister systems at reactors or (2) would be transported to an interim storage facility in reusable, bolted-lid transportation casks and subsequently loaded into standardized canister systems. Specifically, the evaluation builds on previous work to gain a better understanding of (1) the impacts of leaving spent fuel pools open for extended periods of time to facilitate access to the fuel and (2) how updated concepts of packaging for disposal and associated costs impact the system-wide evaluation.
For all standardized canister scenarios analyzed, the following observations can be drawn from this evaluation:
(1) Beginning to load standardized canisters either before or when a repository concept is selected would reduce the total life cycle cost of the system by between 1% and 7% when compared with the current “business as usual” approach of continuing to load large, dual-purpose canisters (DPCs), assuming that disposal of DPCs is determined to be unfeasible.