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
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
J. Buongiorno, N. E. Todreas, M. S. Kazimi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 138 | Number 1 | April 2002 | Pages 30-43
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3275
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The choice of lead or lead alloys (Pb-Bi) as the coolant of a fast reactor offers the potential for enhanced safety and reliability due to their benign physical and chemical characteristics. In an effort to assess this class of coolants in advanced nuclear systems of the next generation, an innovative fast reactor concept that eliminates the need for steam generators and main coolant pumps and thus offers capital and operating cost reduction was explored. The working steam is generated by direct-contact vaporization of water by liquid metal in the chimney above the core and is then sent directly to the turbine. The presence of a lighter fluid in the chimney substantially enhances the natural circulation of the Pb-Bi within the reactor pool. A key technical issue of this reactor concept is the consequences of Pb-Bi aerosol generation within the vessel, its transport within the power cycle components and impact on the design and operation of the turbine.Generation, transport, and deposition of Pb-Bi aerosols were modeled. It was found that the utilization of a suitable chevron steam separator design reduces the heavy-liquid metal transported to the steam lines by about three orders of magnitude. Nevertheless, the residual Pb-Bi (~0.003 kg/s) is predicted to be sufficient to cause embrittlement of the turbine blades if conventional materials are used and the plant is to operate for 40 yr. Four solutions to this problem were assessed and found potentially viable from a technical standpoint: blade coating, employment of alternative materials, electrostatic precipitation, and oxidation of the Pb-Bi droplets.