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 Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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.
Masaaki Mori, Mitsuru Kawamura, Akio Yamamoto
Nuclear Technology | Volume 117 | Number 2 | February 1997 | Pages 171-183
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT97-A35323
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Results are presented of a conceptual design study of a transuranium (TRU) fuel assembly consisting of only plutonium and minor actinide (MA) oxides for transmutation of MAs in a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The average plutonium content of the TRU transmutation fuel assembly in this study is 38 wt% Putot, and the average MA content is 62 wt%. The fuel rod arrangement and the plutonium content are optimized to suppress the internal power peaking in the fuel assembly. Core characteristics and TRU inventory change are evaluated for an 870-MW(electric) PWR core loaded heterogeneously with a few TRU transmutation fuel assemblies. The maximum loading of the TRU transmutation fuel is limited to nine assemblies to maintain a negative moderator temperature coefficient at the beginning of cycle, while satisfying a cycle length of 15.2 GWd/tonne U. By loading nine TRU transmutation fuel assemblies, the total MA inventory in the core decreases by —65 kg/cycle, which is approximately equivalent to that produced from three UO2 reactors. The heterogeneous loading of a few fuel assemblies with highly concentrated TRU in a PWR is found to be feasible for the effective transmutation of MAs while maintaining reactor safety.