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
Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
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.
John Bistline, Revis James, Andrew Sowder (EPRI)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 981-987
This analysis investigates the conditions under which nuclear power could play a role in future markets. This study uses EPRI’s U.S. Regional Economy, Greenhouse Gas, and Energy (US-REGEN) energy-economic model to explore tradeoffs across a range of assumptions about technologies, markets, and policies. Model results suggest that advanced nuclear could be economically competitive across a range of scenarios and that there are several key drivers that may influence deployment, including energy and environmental policies (e.g., emissions pricing), additional revenue streams (e.g., process heat sales), region-specific factors (e.g., policies, existing asset mixes, transmission), and advanced nuclear capital costs. Market opportunities depend on a combination of these factors, which impact the competitiveness of nuclear relative to other electric sector resources and require modeling to evaluate. Without new policies, extensive deployment of nuclear would require innovation either in technologies to significantly lower costs or in business models to provide supplemental revenue streams. With policies targeting emissions reductions, the presence of technologies like advanced nuclear can reduce compliance costs. However, simultaneous cost reductions for other generation options, especially dispatchable low-carbon technologies, will challenge advanced nuclear for competitive advantage and market share.