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
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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!
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Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
Ronald L. Boring, Thomas A. Ulrich, Torrey J. Mortenson (INL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1210-1221
This paper provides a concise discussion of levels of automation that may be applied in the design of the control and information systems of control rooms at advanced reactors. The paper highlights that there are two types of automation?control automation for actions performed at the plant and information automation for synthesizing key plant parameters for use by reactor operators. This paper reviews current automation implementations at current nuclear power plants and considers opportunities for enhanced automation in newer plants. While automation may bring clear benefits such as reduced staffing levels, poorly introduced automation can actually have adverse effects on operator performance by relegating operators to tasks at which they perform poorly. This paper concludes with a discussion of considerations for automation relative to primary vs. secondary side control and monitoring.