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
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!
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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.
J. G. Stevens, K. S. Smith, K. R. Rempe, T. J. Downar
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 121 | Number 1 | September 1995 | Pages 67-88
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE121-67
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Simulated-annealing optimization of reactor core loading patterns is implemented with support for design heuristics during candidate pattern generation. The SIMAN optimization module uses the advanced nodal method of SIMULATE-3 and the full cross-section detail of CASMO-3 to evaluate accurately the neutronic performance of each candidate, resulting in high-quality patterns. The use of heuristics within simulated annealing is explored. Heuristics improve the consistency of optimization results for both fast- and slow-annealing runs with no penalty from the exclusion of unusual candidates. Thus, the heuristic application of designer judgment during automated pattern generation is shown to be effective. The capability of the SIMAN module to find and evaluate families of loading patterns that satisfy design constraints and have good objective performance within practical run times is demonstrated. The use of automatic evaluations of successive cycles to explore multicycle effects of design decisions is discussed.