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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
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting (NCSD 2022)
Plenary and Panel Session
Thursday, June 16, 2022|8:00–9:45AM PDT|Laguna A
Patterned after the highly successful closing plenary of ICNC 2019, the closing plenary of NCSD 2022 will provide a forum for each of the leaders of the 10 different technical tracks to present an overview of the papers discussed in their sessions share any emerging issues or themes with the broader NCS community. Each track representative will give a 5-10 minute highlight discussion. The meeting will be closed with preview presentation on ICNC 2023, which will be held in October of 2023 in Sendai, Japan.
Track 1: Lessons Learned in Nuclear Criticality Safety- Accidents, infractions, and lessons learned.
Track 2: Decontamination and Decommissioning- Recovery, restoration, and their respective challenges.
Track 3: Interesting Anomalies in Nuclear Criticality Safety- Non-intuitive phenomena, unexpected results, and interesting stories.
Track 4: Operational Practices- Operational criticality safety activities and applications.
Track 5: Fuel Storage, Transportation, and Disposal- Burnup credit, transportation needs, and storage issues.
Track 6: Experiments and Benchmarks- Measurements, experiments, and benchmarks.
Track 7: Codes, Data, and Methods- Analyses, validation, and sensitivities/uncertainties.
Track 8: Nuclear Criticality Safety for LEU+/HALEU- Response to growing needs for increased uranium enrichment.
Track 9: Knowledge Transfer- Education, Professional Development, and Training.
Track 10: Innovative Technologies and Thinking- Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, etc.
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