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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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June 2024
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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 Fuels and Actinide Materials
Tuesday, December 12, 2023|3:10–4:50PM CST|Galerie 3
Session Chair:
Fidelma Giulia Di Lemma (INL)
Alternate Chair:
Assel Aitkaliyeva (Univ. Florida)
Track Organizers:
Jian Gan (INL)
Michael Tonks (Univ. Florida)
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Machine Learning Interatomic Potential for Qualitative Reproduction of Phase Transition of Metal Uranium at Ambient Pressure
3:10–3:30PM CST
Jae-Hyuk Kim (Seoul Nat'l Univ.), Takuji Oda (Seoul Nat'l Univ.)
Paper
Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of the Fuel Cladding Chemical Interaction Layer Forming in a U-10Zr Fuel Sample Irradiated to High Burnup
3:30–3:50PM CST
D. Salvato (INL), A. Pradhan (INL), F. Xu (INL), K.M. Paaren (INL), F. Teng (INL), F. Di. Lemma (INL), L. Capriotti (INL), T. Yao (INL)
A Study in the Thermal Transport Properties of Sodium-Bonded U-Zr Metallic Fuels for Fast Reactors
3:50–4:10PM CST
Cynthia Adkins (INL), Daniele Salvato (INL), Tiankai Yao (INL)
Scanning Electron Microscopy on Innovative Advance Reactor Metallic Fuel Concepts
4:10–4:30PM CST
Luca Capriotti (INL), Fidelma G. Di Lemma (INL), Daniele Salvato (INL), Tammy L. Trowbridge (INL), Fei Xu (INL), Tiankai Yao (INL), Jason M. Harp (ORNL)
Advanced Cladding Irradiation Experiment Capabilities at HFIR
4:30–4:50PM CST
P.A. Champlin (ORNL), A.G. Le Coq (ORNL), K.D. Linton (ORNL), C.M. Petrie (ORNL)
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