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
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
May 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Arndt B. Lindner, Dieter H. Wach
Nuclear Technology | Volume 143 | Number 2 | August 2003 | Pages 197-207
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies | doi.org/10.13182/NT03-A3409
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Operational benefits and enlarged functionality of modern technology, but also the physical and the technological aging of conventional instrumentation and control (I&C) systems, are motivations for modernization of I&C systems in nuclear power plants (NPPs). In case of safety-relevant I&C systems, the licensing authorities require the demonstration of sufficient safety of the systems.In several countries ongoing research and development projects are directed to provide a scientific basis and engineering solutions for cost-effective assessment of software-based I&C systems important to safety in NPPs. International initiatives have been started to develop a harmonized safety assessment methodology. The Institute for Safety Technology (ISTec) has been engaged in national and international programs as well as in establishing a two-phase qualification approach, which comprises a generic plant-independent qualification of hardware and software components and a plant-specific system qualification phase.In both generic qualification and plant-specific system qualification, ISTec has been involved as an independent third-party assessor for the relevant state authority. This paper reports experiences from the ISTec involvement in the assessment projects, e.g., in the assessment of the I&C important to safety in the new German High-Flux Research Reactor (FRM-2) in Munich and in the assessments of I&C modernization in NPPs of foreign countries (Bohunice, Slovak Republic; Paks, Hungary; and others). Conclusions are drawn from the experiences with respect to the practicability of the two-phase qualification concept and from the major findings in the plant-specific I&C assessments.