ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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!
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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.
Donald G. Schweitzer
Nuclear Technology | Volume 84 | Number 1 | January 1989 | Pages 88-92
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34198
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Important thermodynamic analyses of possible reactions affecting the long-term performance of the engineered materials being considered for isolation of high-level waste are reviewed. Analysis of the literature on the possible failure mechanisms of copper waste packages in granite and basalt environments shows that many of the conclusions from postulated thermodynamic equilibria reactions are inconsistent with the original assumptions and with observations. The absence of evidence for the existence of reactions calculated to have negative free energy changes is classically explained by kinetic inhibitions. We suggest reasons why some of these reactions should be treated as thermodynamic artifacts rather than slowly occurring natural reactions.