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
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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
May 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
Terry Kammash, David L. Galbraith
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 16 | Number 4 | December 1989 | Pages 469-473
Technical Paper | Special Section: Cold Fusion Technical Notes / Tritium System | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A29109
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Two schemes have been proposed to replace the aging tritium production facilities at Savannah River, South Carolina. The reactors at that site have been operating for well over a quarter of a century, producing tritium for national defense programs. But serious questions regarding safety and other issues have arisen. The U.S. Department of Energy and the federal government have reiterated their plan to build a heavy water reactor and a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor at a cost of about $7 billion as replacements for the Savannah River facility. A group of scientists from national laboratories, on the other hand, have proposed the use of a linear accelerator to accelerate protons to produce neutrons to be used to produce tritium in lithium targets. They contend that the capital cost of this accelerator tritium producer is competitive with that of the reactors, but the operating cost may be high unless it is located in a region where the cost of hydropower is low. Yet another scheme is proposed that is safe and potentially less expensive than the other two. It relies on existing or rapidly developing laser technology to drive a magnetically insulated inertial confinement fusion device, which has already produced copious amounts of neutrons that could readily be used in producing tritium.