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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!
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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.
Scott J. Weber, Etienne M. Mullin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 9 | September 2020 | Pages 1351-1360
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1756160
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
During a severe accident in a nuclear reactor, there are a number of phenomenological events that can present a challenge to containment integrity. These include the generation and combustion of hydrogen, energetic fuel-coolant interactions, thermal attack of fission product barriers, core-concrete interactions, direct containment heating, and gradual overpressurization. The advanced design of the NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) has resulted in the reduced likelihood and severity of severe accident challenges to containment. This paper discusses the features of the NuScale design that reduce the likelihood of occurrence of these severe accident phenomena and also discusses the ability of containment to survive in the unlikely event that they do occur. The impact of severe accident phenomena for the NuScale design is compared and contrasted against other advanced light water reactors (ALWRs), such as the AP1000 reactor and the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR), as well as the existing fleet, using information from publicly available documents.