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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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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July 2025
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Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Sunday, May 15, 2022|1:00–5:30PM EDT
Ellwood
The Kraken framework is a computational reactor analysis framework developed at VTT for both safety analyses and general research and educational purposes. With the neutronics side building heavily on the in-house Monte Carlo code Serpent, the framework couples novel Finnish solvers for core physics but also couples to state-of-the-art third pary solvers. The Python based multi-physics driver Cerberus and the Python package of pre- and post-processing methods KrakenTools aim to simplify core analysis tasks. Work is ongoing to license the framework free of charge for non-commercial use with distribution through the OECD/NEA data bank and the RSICC.
Agenda:
1. Motivation behind Kraken development.
2. Current solvers in the Kraken framework.
3. KrakenTools, a Python package to help working with Kraken solvers.
4. Coupled multi-physics calculations with Kraken.
5. Demonstration: SMR operating cycle analysis with Kraken.
6. Current status of licensing and distribution.