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
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
IAEA promoting nuclear energy with G20
The International Atomic Energy Agency launched a collaboration with the Group of 20 this week to highlight the key role that nuclear energy can play in achieving energy security and climate-change goals.
The aim of this first-of-its-kind partnership with G20—the world’s largest economic group—is to build momentum for nuclear power. This is the first time the IAEA has presented to G20 on issues relating to nuclear power.
Ronald L. Boring, Thomas A. Ulrich, Roger Lew, Casey R. Kovesdi, Ahmad Al Rashdan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 4 | April 2019 | Pages 507-523
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1509593
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An operator-in-the-loop study was conducted in support of control room modernization for a nuclear power plant. The study featured a benchmark comparison on a glass-top simulator of three variants of a turbine control system (TCS): (1) the existing analog TCS, (2) a proposed stand-alone digital TCS with two displays, and (3) the digital TCS with the addition of a third display consisting of a system overview screen. TCS prototypes were developed to allow formative evaluation of operator preferences and performance during realistic turbine scenarios in the full-scope simulator. The study revealed that completion of turbine startup was several minutes faster with the digital TCS variants than with the conventional analog TCS. Eye-tracking fixations were more widely distributed in the overview versus stand-alone TCS condition, suggesting the overview screen was cueing reactor operators to verify values across the boards. There was no significant difference in workload or situation awareness across the three interfaces. Reviewing key plant parameters showed smoother transitions during load-following for the digital-versus-analog TCS. Despite some performance advantages for the digital TCS variants, operators preferred the existing analog TCS. Open-ended responses suggested this finding may be more an artifact of familiarity than a reflection of dissatisfaction with the new TCS. The study provides compelling evidence that the new digital TCS was used successfully by the operators, suggesting high usability for the digital TCS design. Further advantages were realized through the addition of the system overview screen to provide crews with at-a-glance indicators of key turbine parameters.