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
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
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
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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.
S. Segantin, R. Testoni, Z. Hartwig, D. Whyte, M. Zucchetti
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 76 | Number 1 | January 2020 | Pages 45-52
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1629252
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Progress in technological fields such as high-temperature superconductors, additive manufacturing, and innovative materials has led to new scenarios and to a second generation of fusion reactor designs. The new Affordable Robust Compact (ARC) fusion reactor, which compared to other designs meets its goal to achieve fusion energy in a less expensive, smaller but even more powerful, faster way, has been designed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In order to define ARC’s role in future electricity grids, a feasibility investigation of the load-following concept has been carried out, starting on ARC’s vacuum vessel (VV), which is the component closest to the plasma. Finite element analysis models have been designed, and thermomechanical analyses have been conducted. In this framework thermal fatigue and creep remain the main issues. This study identifies and verifies a suitable temperature range for the VV coolant. Indeed, it is found to satisfy both requirements for the lifetime of the structural material and thermodynamic efficiency optimization.