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
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
“Summer time” again? Santee Cooper thinks so
South Carolina public utility Santee Cooper and its partner South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) called a halt to the Summer-2 and -3 AP1000 construction project in July 2017, citing costly delays and the bankruptcy of Westinghouse. The well-chronicled legal fallout included indictments and settlements, and ultimately left Santee Cooper with the ownership of nonnuclear assets at the construction site in Jenkinsville, S.C.
C. Wallace, G. West, P. Zacharis, G. Dobie, A. Gachagan (Univ of Strathclyde)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 947-956
Ultrasonic inspections are undertaken on a routine basis during outages of CANDU reactors. Expert interpretation of the data generated during these inspections is used to confirm the integrity of zirconium alloy pressure tubes which house fuel bundles. The inspections form an essential component of the outage programme for CANDU reactors and as such are part of the critical outage path. Analysis of the large volume of data generated is undertaken by a small team of engineers who apply expert knowledge and interpretation through a robust review process that involves multiple human experts reviewing datasets before a consolidated view is determined. Recent work on automated defect detection and analysis on historical ultrasonic data has demonstrated the viability of a decision support tool which can aid the existing analysis process. Testing of the prototype system with engineers and domain experts has enabled improvement in accuracy and capabilities while highlighting tasks within existing procedures where explicit descriptions of all scenarios cannot feasibly be specified and where therefore human judgement plays a more important role. Development of the software, as a support tool to enable more rapid analysis of typical defects, is intended to enable increases in the time available for experts to consider more complex defects. This paper discusses the development of the software prototype, potential deployment routes for the prototype system, considering the interactions with the existing process, benefits which may be realised and limitations that may be addressed through the use of data-driven analysis techniques.