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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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|Reactor Design and Analysis
Tuesday, April 23, 2024|1:30–3:15PM PDT|Franciscan C
Session Chair:
Nicolas E. Stauff
Alternate Chair:
Scott Richards (ANL)
Session Organizer:
Eva E. Davidson
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A Study of Fuel Choice Effects when Transitioning to a Closed Fuel Cycle
1:30–1:50PM PDT
S. Richards (ANL), T. Kim (ANL)
Paper
3D Full Core Depletion Analysis Using BSOLVE+MCNP6 Analysis of the Washington State University Reactor
1:50–2:10PM PDT
Meng-Jen (Vince) Wang (Univ. Nevada, Las Vegas), Glenn E. Sjoden (Univ. Utah), C. Corey Hines (Washington State)
Thermal Analysis of the Sirius-3 Nuclear Propulsion Fuel Experiments
2:10–2:30PM PDT
Frederick N. Gleicher (INL), Mustafa K. Jaradat (INL), Sebastian Schunert (INL), Mark DeHart (INL)
Progress on Transport and Transmutation Analysis of Proton Beam Irradiating Long-Lived Spent Nuclear Waste
2:30–2:50PM PDT
Charlotte I. Wickert (MIT), Grigor Tukharyan (MIT), Jiankai Yu (MIT), Areg Danagoulian (MIT), Zachary Hartwig (MIT), Benoit Forget (MIT)
Long Time Scale Multiphysics Simulation of Spent Nuclear Fuel Canister in MOOSE
2:50–3:10PM PDT
Rodrigo de Oliveira (INL), Joshua Hanophy (INL), Paolo Balestra (INL), Derek Gaston (INL)
Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees)
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