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
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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
Mar 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2024
Latest News
Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
Manuel Pantelias, Benjamin Volmert
Nuclear Technology | Volume 192 | Number 3 | December 2015 | Pages 278-285
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Operations and Controls | doi.org/10.13182/NT15-13
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In Switzerland 40% of the electricity generation is produced by nuclear power. With all five reactors being already beyond their 30th year of operation, Nagra (National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste) in collaboration with the utilities periodically contributes to the Swiss Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) decommissioning cost studies. These studies are of relevance to the estimation of the financial input of the utilities to the Swiss decommissioning fund and the planning of decommissioning activities. During reactor operation, a fraction of the neutrons produced in the reactor core will escape the core boundaries and eventually interact with the surrounding matter. The most heavily irradiated components are located in the proximity of the reactor core [e.g., core baffle, core support plates, core barrel, and reactor pressure vessel (RPV)]. Neutrons will also stream in farther ex-RPV areas and activate components such as the reinforced concrete bioshield. Decommissioning costs are dependent, inter alia, on the radioactive waste volumes and on the corresponding isotopic inventories. Neutron-activated components are the main source of radioactivity within a NPP under immediate dismantling (i.e., spent fuel has been removed from the reactor). Reliable neutron transport and activation calculations are, therefore, essential for the estimation of radioactive waste volumes, the selection of an optimal dismantling strategy, the development of the radioactive waste packaging and logistics concept, and consequently for the estimation of the decommissioning costs. In this context, Nagra has developed a state-of-the-art NPP activation calculation sequence that enables the radiological characterization of the Swiss NPPs. This paper focuses on aspects relevant to the neutron transport calculations for a Swiss pressurized water reactor. More specifically, the MCNP5 modeling approach together with the use of the ADVANTG hybrid, variance-reduction acceleration code, is outlined. Furthermore, the validation of the neutron transport calculations with an in situ full-cycle foil activation campaign is presented.