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
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Mar 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2024
Latest News
Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
A. J. H. Donné, C. J. Barth
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 2 | February 2006 | Pages 375-386
Technical Paper | Plasma and Fusion Energy Physics - Diagnostics | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1137
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper will focus on two types of laser-aided diagnostics: Thomson scattering and laser-induced fluorescence. Thomson scattering is a very powerful diagnostic, which is applied at nearly every magnetic confinement device. Depending on the experimental conditions different plasma parameters can be diagnosed. When the wavelength is much smaller than the plasma Debye length, the total scattered power is obtained by an incoherent summation over the scattered powers of the individual electrons. The scattering spectrum in this case is a reflection of the electron velocity distribution, from which local values for the electron temperature and density can be derived. In case the wavelength is larger than the Debye length, Thomson scattering can yield information on the ion velocity distribution and/or collective behavior of the electrons, as is the case with density fluctuations. Laser-induced fluorescence is particularly suited for studies of the ion population at the cooler, not-fully ionized, plasma edge.