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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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!
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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
Technical Session|Sponsored by OPD
Wednesday, June 15, 2022|3:15–5:00PM PDT|San Simeon A
Session Chair:
Aman Gupta (Univ. Idaho)
Alternate Chair:
Gale Hauck (ORNL)
Session Organizer:
W. Neal Mann (ANL)
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Overview of the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) Mission and Design
Daniel J. Walter (TerraPower), Kent Wardle (TerraPower), Zander Mausolff (TerraPower), Josh Walter (TerraPower), Jeff Latkowski (TerraPower)
Paper
Fuel Salt Sampling and Enriching Technology Design Development -- Interfacing Systems Analysis and Project Update
Megan Harkema (Vanderbilt Univ.), Steven Krahn (Vanderbilt Univ.), Paul Marotta (Vanderbilt Univ.)
Characterization of Potential Construction Schedules for Advanced Reactors
Gale Hauck (ORNL), Cory Ball (ORNL), T. Jay Harrison (ORNL), Samantha Sabatino (ORNL)
Rethinking Deployment Scenarios for Advanced Nuclear
Andrew Sowder (EPRI), Dan Moneghan (EPRI)
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