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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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 Nuclear Fuel Cycles
Tuesday, December 12, 2023|1:00–2:40PM CST|Galerie 6
Session Chair:
Michael Cooper (LANL)
Alternate Chair:
Jie Lian (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Track Organizers:
Sarah C. Finkeldei (Univ. California, Irvine)
Yong Yang (Univ. Florida)
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How Social Science Could (Re-)Shape Research and Governance of Nuclear Energy Technology: Some Recent Examples from Academia
1:00–1:40PM CST
Denia Djokic (Univ. Michigan)
Paper
Simulations of Radionuclide Uptake in Porous Nuclear Waste-Form Materials Under Continuous Flow
1:40–2:00PM CST
Zirui Mao (PNNL), Yulan Li (PNNL), Robert Montgomery (PNNL), Shenyang Hu (PNNL)
Modeling Ionic Exchange in Faujasite Zeolite for Nuclear Waste Treatment
2:00–2:20PM CST
An T. Ta (Univ. Florida), R. Seaton Ullberg (Univ. Florida), Ayoub Daouli (Univ. Lorraine), Vanessa Proust (CEA), Michael Badawi (Univ. Lorraine), Agnes Grandjean (CEA), Simon R. Phillpot (Univ. Florida)
Cerium Corrosion and Embrittlement of Refractory Metals in Chloride Salts
2:20–2:40PM CST
Elise M. Shauf (Univ. Michigan), Stephen S. Raiman (Univ. Michigan)
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