ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Roger Lew (Univ of Idaho), Chris Poresky (Univ of California, Berkeley), Thomas A. Ulrich, Ronald L. Boring (INL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 507-521
Several advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are in various stages of design and commercialization. These could be critical in ensuring future clean, reliable, and autonomous energy for buildings, transportation, and domestic water use in the United States. Generation trends are shifting with increased penetration of solar and wind. Fossil sources are still major contributors with coal slowly phasing out. Nuclear plants are aging and currently account for 20% of total electricity. Our future grid will be challenged with managing the dynamic production of renewables, electric vehicle penetration, and urbanization. This also creates market opportunities for SMRs. Operation and control of SMRs is potentially substantively different from current reactors. New advanced reactors incorporate more passive safety. and modern control systems increase susceptibility to cyber risks. SMRs will need to be cost competitive with competing technologies and optimizing operations and maintenance costs will be critical to adoption. Here we put forward strategies for the design, operation, and management of SMRs over their projected lifecycle. Advanced reactors being designed today may not become operational for another 10 to 20 years and would run for 40 or even 60 years. The specified control systems are at risk of obsolescence before the plants have a chance of going critical.