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
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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
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.
Hans-Otto Willax
Nuclear Technology | Volume 121 | Number 2 | February 1998 | Pages 128-135
Technical Paper | German Direct Disposal Project | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2825
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In 1994, because of a change in atomic law, the concept of direct final disposal was developed as an equivalent alternative to the concept of waste management that included reprocessing.Since 1979, tests for direct final disposal have been conducted in Germany. In 1985, the State and the utilities came to an agreement to develop this concept of waste management to technical maturity. Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service was commissioned by the utilities with the following tasks: to develop and test components with regard to conditioning technology, to construct and operate the pilot conditioning plant (PCP), and to develop casks suitable for final disposal.Since 1980, the construction of the PCP has taken place at the Brennelementlager Gorleben site. The PCP has been designed as a multipurpose facility and can thus fulfill various tasks within the framework of conditioning and managing spent-fuel assemblies and radioactive waste. The pilot character of the plant allows for the development and testing in the field of spent-fuel-assembly conditioning.The objectives of the PCP may be summarized as follows: to condition spent-fuel assemblies, to reload spent-fuel assemblies and waste packages, to condition radioactive waste, and to do maintenance work on transport and storage casks as well as on waste packages. Currently, the buildings of the PCP are constructed and the technical facilities are installed based on the Atomic Law Agreement. The plant will be ready for service in the middle of 1998. It is the first plant of its kind in the world.