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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2021)
February 9–11, 2021
Virtual Meeting
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
Jan 2021
Jul 2020
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2021
Nuclear Technology
January 2021
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2020
Latest News
Notes on fusion
The ST25-HTS tokamak.
Governments around the world have been interested in fusion for more than 70 years. Fusion research was largely secret until 1968, when the Soviets unveiled exciting results from their tokamak (a magnetic confinement fusion device with a particular configuration that produces a toroidal plasma). The Soviets realized that tokamaks were not useful as weapons but could produce plasma in the million-degree temperature range to demonstrate Soviet scientific and technical prowess to the world.
Following this breakthrough, government laboratories around the world continued to pursue various methods of confining hot plasma to understand plasma physics under extreme conditions, getting closer and closer to the conditions necessary for fusion energy production. Tokamaks have been by far the most successful configuration. In the 1990s, the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory produced 10 MW of fusion power using deuterium-tritium fusion. A few years later, the Joint European Torus (JET) in the United Kingdom increased that to 16 MW, getting close to breakeven using 24 MW of power to heat the plasma.
View Recipients
Downloads: Download Nomination Form
Nomination Deadline
April 1
Presented at the
Winter Meeting
The Eugene P. Wigner Award recognizes an individual that has made outstanding contributions toward the advancement in the field of nuclear reactor physics.
Nominations can be made by any member of ANS. Nominees need not be ANS members.
The award consists of an engraved plaque and is presented at a division function at the ANS Winter Meeting.
The award was established by the Reactor Physics Division (RPD) in 1990. The award is named after the late Eugene P. Wigner, a pioneer who helped nurture the nuclear age to technical maturity.
The principal sponsor has the responsibility of (a) securing the required letters of recommendation from the other two co-sponsors, (b) assembling the nomination package and (c) submitting it to ANS along with his or her own recommendation of the nominee by the deadline indicated in the call for nominations announcement.
Nominations must include the completed nomination form accompanied by the following supporting documents:
The nomination should include evidence of the candidate's contribution in the form of written recommendations from the sponsors and others as appropriate, specifying the candidate's outstanding accomplishments and contributions that have benefited the field of nuclear reactor physics to the degree meriting consideration for the Eugene P. Wigner Reactor Physicist Award.
The selection of the Eugene P. Wigner Reactor Physicist Award is determined by critical review and assessment of submitted credentials and qualifications; hence, due care should be exercised in preparation of the nomination package. In the process of review and selection, emphasis is placed on excellence of achievement in the field of nuclear reactor physics as evidenced by (a) outstanding original research, documented in referenced scientific journals or major publications and by (b) outstanding leadership in reactor physics. The ANS Honors and Awards Committee is available for consultation and review as appropriate.
Nomination forms and supporting documents (in Word or Adobe Acrobat) should be emailed to honors@ans.org.
Hard copies can be mailed to:
Honors and AwardsAmerican Nuclear Society555 N. Kensington AvenueLa Grange Park, IL 60526-5535
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