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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Center for Used Fuel Research: Building confidence in storage and transport
Used nuclear fuel storage and transportation have reached a critical juncture.
Dozens of utilities need reliable data on how used nuclear fuel performs in dry storage casks and canisters to extend regulatory licenses at sites across the United States. Likewise, the Department of Energy expects to take ownership of the used nuclear fuel—termed “spent nuclear fuel” in the laws and regulations governing its stewardship—and transfer it to one or more federal staging facilities for management and disposition.
Meanwhile, dozens of reactor companies are testing prototypes of advanced reactors and advanced reactor fuels. Eventually, regulators and industry must also verify the safety and security of storage methods for these advanced fuel types.
To help address these challenges, the DOE established the Center for Used Fuel Research (CUFR) in January 2026 for work related to the long-term storage and transport of used nuclear fuel.
Technical Session|Sponsored by MSTD|Cosponsored by AAD
Wednesday, June 18, 2025|3:15–5:00PM CDT|Los Angeles
Session Chair:
Jake R. Quincey
Alternate Chair:
Lin Shao
Session Organizer:
Elia Merzari
To access paper attachments, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
Register NowLog In
Developing Microstructurally Accurate Finite Element Meshes for Nuclear Fuels from 3D FIB Tomography Data
3:15–3:25PM CDT
Cade A. Finney (Univ. Florida), Mitchell Mika (Univ. Florida), Assel Aitkaliyeva (Univ. Florida)
Paper
Automatic Feature Segmentation of TRISO Fuel Cross-Sections Through Machine Learning
3:25–3:35PM CDT
Lu Cai (INL), Fei Xu (INL), Min Xian (University of Idaho), Yalei Tang (INL), Liang Zhao (INL), John Stempien (INL)
Thermal Stability and Strengthening Mechanism of BNNT Reinforced 316L Stainless Steel Composites
3:35–3:45PM CDT
Jingfan Yang (INL), Xinchang Zhang (INL), Rongjie Song (INL)
Assessing High Burnup U-19Pu-10Zr Fuel Performance Against Historical and Modeled Behavior
3:45–3:55PM CDT
Allison R. Probert (Univ. Florida), Alexander L. Swearingen (INL), Jason Schulthess (INL), Colby B. Jensen (INL), Luca Capriotti (INL), Assel Aitkaliyeva (Univ. Florida)
Lattice Structured Lightweight Structural Materials
3:55–4:05PM CDT
Rongjie Song (INL), Michael Moorehead (INL), Dewen Yushu (INL), Jingfan Yang (INL), Jia-Hong Ke (INL)
Initial Characterization of 80 MeV Xe Irradiated UN at 400-500 °C
4:05–4:15PM CDT
Ryan Crichton (ANL), Peter Mouche (ANL), Aaron Oaks (ANL), William Limestall (Argonne National Laboratory; Illinois Institute of Technology), Abdellatif M. Yacout (ANL), Laura M. Jamison (ANL)
Code Qualification of Alloy 709 for High Temperature Reactor Applications
4:15–4:25PM CDT
Y. Wang (ORNL), T.-L. Sham (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission), R. Wright (Structural Alloys, LLC.), X. Zhang (ANL), M. C. Messner (ANL), R. Bass (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission), H. Mahajan (INL), Z. Feng (ORNL)
Advanced Moderator Module (AMM) Development for Microreactors
4:25–4:35PM CDT
Sumit Bhattacharya (ANL), Yinbin Miao (ANL), Caitlin A. Kohnert (LANL), Michael Hahn (LANL), Thomas J. Nizolek (LANL), Erik P. Luther (LANL), Holly Renee Trellue (LANL), Abdellatif M. Yacout (ANL)
The Role of Stoichiometry in High-Temperature Ceramic FCCI Barriers
4:35–4:45PM CDT
Sumit Bhattacharya (ANL), Zhi-Gang Mei (ANL), Shipeng Shu (ANL), Abdellatif M. Yacout (ANL)
Design Optimization of the FRIB Beam Dump Through Reinforcement Learning with Genetic Algorithm
4:45–4:55PM CDT
Geunhyeong Lee (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Jeongseog Song (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Mohit Patil (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Raul Quispe-Abad (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Nathan Bultman (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Takuji Kanemura (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams)
