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Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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
How robust is HALEU from a nonproliferation perspective?
Shikha Prasad
High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) has emerged as a popular fuel choice for advanced small modular reactors due to its long power production periods before refueling. It is currently being pursued by TerraPower, X-energy, BWX Technologies, Kairos, Oklo, and other reactor companies. HALEU has a uranium-235 enrichment ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent, whereas traditional LWRs use low-enriched uranium fuel enriched up to 5 percent.
HALEU will provide power for longer durations, compared with traditional LWRs. But could it also provide an opportunity for more rapid proliferation, as is speculated in a 2023 National Academy of Sciences report on advanced nuclear reactors (nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26630/)?
If a nuclear proliferator conspires to divert fresh nuclear fuel for weapons production when it has not been used in a reactor, the effort required in separative work units (SWUs) to enrich U-235 from 5 percent to 90 percent and that required to enrich from 20 percent to 90 percent are both very small, compared with the effort required to enrich U-235 from its natural abundance to the initial 5 percent.
Technical Session|Sponsored by Evolution of Material Properties
Thursday, December 14, 2023|10:00–11:40AM CST|Galerie 1
Session Chair:
Benjamin P. Eftink (LANL)
Alternate Chair:
Thak Sang Byun (ORNL)
Track Organizers:
Gary Was (Univ. Michigan)
Dong Liu (University of Bristol)
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Effective Lanthanide Diffusivity Through U-Zr Metallic Fuel
10:00–10:20AM CST
L.K. Aagesen (INL), J. Hirschhorn (INL), C. Jiang (INL)
Paper
Effects of High Temperature Neutron Irradiation on the Thermal Conductivity of Graphite
10:20–10:40AM CST
Anne A. Campbell (ORNL)
Hardening of Beryllium During Low Temperature Irradiation
10:40–11:00AM CST
Slava Kuksenko (U.K. Atomic Energy Authority)
Influence of Alloying Element Precipitation (Si, Mg) on Grain Boundary Strength in Al: A Molecular Dynamics Study
11:00–11:20AM CST
ATM Jahid Hasan (NCSU), Benjamin Beeler (NCSU)
Machine Learning-Aided Calculations of Thermodynamic Properties of Na-O System up to Na2O2 Composition
11:20–11:40AM CST
Chaeyeong Kim (Seoul Nat'l Univ.), Takuji Oda (Seoul Nat'l Univ.)
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