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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Chad J. Kiger (AMS)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1294-1303
Traditional wireless technologies are typically difficult and costly to implement in industrial environments such as nuclear power plants. Because the current implementation methodology is specific to individual wireless protocols such as LTE, Wi-Fi, WirelessHART, and ISA100, each family of wireless devices requires its own antennas, data collection nodes, and supporting infrastructure to move data from the field to a centralized monitoring point in the plant. Furthermore, keeping the system up-to-date often requires expensive overhauls to the electronics to keep up with rapidly changing wireless technologies. Due to increased plant demand for data intensive applications such as equipment condition monitoring, voice and video communication, and access to electronic work packages, nuclear power plants need the ability to upgrade their wireless backbone to handle increased data throughput while protecting against evolving cyber security threats. Distributed Antenna System (DAS) technology has the potential to address the obsolescence and infrastructure issues associated with traditional wireless implementations. A DAS uses a radiating cable and/or collection of antennas to provide wireless coverage to a large area including within and through metallic, concreate, and other objects. A research and development (R&D) project is being conducted to identify and resolve the challenges associated with the use of DAS technology in a nuclear power plant. These challenges include identifying the optimal system components and installation practices that should be used when implementing a DAS in a nuclear power plant to maximize performance, minimize EMI/RFI concerns, and address cyber security and other installation considerations. Furthermore, the R&D project is addressing the lack of wireless condition monitoring sensors capable of communicating over a DAS that meet the needs of the nuclear industry.