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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference
Workshop
Sunday, November 13, 2022|9:00AM–12:00PM MST|Honeysuckle
UNF-ST&DARDS is being developed to provide the ability to perform automated analysis of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage, transportation, and disposal systems. UNF-ST&DARDS provides a database for storing and preserving SNF data and streamlines various analyses using the data from the database for time-dependent characterization of SNF and related systems (e.g., dry storage system). UNF-ST&DARDS allows for modelling the variation of cask payload burnup, enrichments, and cooling times through a flexible GUI. This tutorial will include 1) discussions on various data need for realistic SNF characterizations and demonstration of the data import processes in UNF-ST&DARDS, 2) assembly-specific, time-dependent depletion and decay analyses, 3) as-loaded (using actual cask loading maps) criticality and shielding analyses of currently loaded casks for storage, transportation, and disposal (over disposal time periods), 4) discussion of as-loaded analyses to support licensing/certification of dry SNF systems, 5) misload analysis methodology to support as-loaded criticality analysis, 6) design-basis criticality and shielding analyses using user-defined loading patterns and fuel assembly types, and 7) dry storage loading optimization using UNF-ST&DARDS. The tutorial/demonstration is open to all registered meeting attendees who signed up at the time of registration. Attendees have no requirements to watch the demonstration, however, an RSICC license for UNF-ST&DARDS and SCALE is necessary if they would like to follow along.
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