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
The busyness of the nuclear fuel supply chain
Ken Petersenpresident@ans.org
With all that is happening in the industry these days, the nuclear fuel supply chain is still a hot topic. The Russian assault in Ukraine continues to upend the “where” and “how” of attaining nuclear fuel—and it has also motivated U.S. legislators to act.
Two years into the Russian war with Ukraine, things are different. The Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022, authorizing $700 million in funding to support production of high-assay low-enriched uranium in the United States. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy this January issued a $500 million request for proposals to stimulate new HALEU production. The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 includes $2.7 billion in funding for new uranium enrichment production. This funding was diverted from the Civil Nuclear Credits program and will only be released if there is a ban on importing Russian uranium into the United States—which could happen by the time this column is published, as legislation that bans Russian uranium has passed the House as of this writing and is headed for the Senate. Also being considered is legislation that would sanction Russian uranium. Alternatively, the Biden-Harris administration may choose to ban Russian uranium without legislation in order to obtain access to the $2.7 billion in funding.
Darius Lisowski, Alex Grannan, Matthew Jasica, SuJong Yoon, Florent Heidet
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 1 | October 2022 | Pages S83-S97
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2043540
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To support the development of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a new set of experiments has been established at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Driven in part by the validation needs for code calculations and simulations of the reference VTR core design, three unique test facilities have been designed, or are in the process of being designed, to allow measurement of the phenomena and behavior prototypic to the full-scale VTR core. The Pressure drop Experimental Loop for Investigations of Core Assemblies in Nuclear reactors (PELICAN) facility, recently constructed and currently operational, is capable of producing full-scale flow rates for measurement of the pressure drop across a prototypic fuel assembly, including axial reflectors, fuel, and plenum components. The REDuced Scale Hydraulic Inlet Plenum (REDSHIP) experiment, beginning construction, will provide measurements of phenomena within the inlet plenum, including flow distributions through the core assembly ducts, pressure losses across the assembly receptacles, and localized velocity flow fields. A separate-effects-test experiment, called Parallel HEated ASsemblies for Advanced Nuclear Tests (PHEASANT), which is in the early stages of design, is being developed to examine the mixing of exiting core assembly jet streams within the upper plenum. As each of the test facilities becomes operational, they will begin generating timely, reliable, and qualified empirical data suitable for verification and validation of computational tools. In collaboration with other efforts across the DOE complex, the ANL experimental programs are well poised to provide continuous support for the advancement of the VTR design.