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
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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
G7 pledges support for nuclear at Italy meeting
The Group of Seven (G7) recommitted its support for nuclear energy in the countries that opt to use it at a Ministerial Meeting on Climate in Italy last month.
In a statement following the April meeting, the group committed to support multilateral efforts to strengthen the resilience of nuclear supply chains, referencing the goal set by 25 countries during last year’s COP28 climate conference in Dubai to triple global nuclear generating capacity by 2050.
T. J. J. Whitehorne, C. Muirhead, S. N. Thomson, H. Li, R. Carson, H. Boniface, S. Suppiah
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 77 | Number 1 | January 2021 | Pages 26-32
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2020.1842681
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Electrolysis cells are required to drive the combined electrolysis and catalytic exchange process used in heavy water upgrading and water detritiation.
Past projects have used very robust alkaline electrolyte technology for the electrolysis cells, though recently there has been a move toward proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. In PEM electrolysis a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) acts as the proton conductor, separator of product gases, and insulator between electrodes.
The long-term effects of highly tritiated water on these SPE materials are not fully understood. At Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), an exposure study has been undertaken wherein various commercial and proprietary SPE materials were exposed to very highly tritiated water (~1000 Ci/kg, 37 TBq/kg). Exposures were done at a typical cell operating temperature (60°C) for periods that might be expected for commercial operations.
Following exposure, some samples lost sufficient integrity that they could not undergo post-exposure testing. In order to test the remaining materials’ electrolytic performance and physical properties in a nonactive laboratory, a process of decontamination that would result in no further membrane degradation needed to be developed. The successful reduction in tritium content of the samples following decontamination was verified using chemical digestion and combustion analysis. All types of commercial membranes were found to lose significant ion exchange capacity, to show reduced water absorption, and to show reduced strain before failure. Tensile testing showed almost complete degradation even at low doses. In this paper, commercial membrane data are compared with data from CNL’s tritium-compatible membranes.