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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
November 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Surplus plutonium for power reactor fuel: What’s on offer
The Department of Energy has a plan for private companies to “dispose of surplus plutonium”—about 19.7 metric tons in both oxide and metal forms—by “making the materials available for advanced nuclear technologies.” A Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program request for applications (RFA) issued October 21 describes the plutonium on offer, and the “thresholds” prospective applicants must meet.
Technical Session|Fission Surface Power
Wednesday, May 7, 2025|1:00–2:40PM CDT|Salon EF (Marriott)
Session Chair:
Mark Lefebvre (NASA Glenn Research Center)
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Greg Fedor (NASA Glenn Research Center)
Track Organizer:
Harold Gerrish (Marshall Space Flight Center)
Space fission power systems will require extensive developmental and qualification testing prior to launch and in-space operations. This technical session will offer insight into several recent test efforts, including discussions of the test preparations, design and fabrication of test support equipment, and summaries of test results. Presenter bios: Luke Hansen is a Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville studying advanced fabrication techniques of thermoelectric materials for radioisotope thermoelectric generators.
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Design Methodology of a Pressurized Irradiation Test Apparatus for Stirling Convertor Organics in the Fission Surface Power Project
1:00–1:25PM CDT
Luke R. Hansen (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Tyler R. Steiner (NASA Glenn Research Center), Brandon A. Wilson (ORNL), Michael T. Barron (Jacobs Technology)
Paper
Preliminary Findings of Lunar Dust Testing on Radiator Performance
1:25–1:50PM CDT
Ronald Leibach (NASA), Greeta Thaikattil (NASA), James Sanzi (HX5, LLC), Meghan Bush (NASA)
Impedance Spectroscopy for Unraveling Self-Healing Mechanisms in Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Alloys
1:50–2:15PM CDT
Oliver Jeffery (Univ. Leicester), Agostino Maurotto (Univ. Leicester), Pierluigi Chiovaro (Univ. Palermo), Pietro Alessandro Di Maio (Univ. Palermo), Richard M. Ambrosi (Univ. Leicester), Ramy Mesalam (Univ. Leicester)
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