ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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 2022 Speaker
Dr. Erika Holt is an expert in radioactive waste management and holds a PhD (2001) in Civil Engineering. Erika is currently the co-coordinator of the project “PREDIS: Pre-disposal management of radioactive waste” at VTT, with a focus on the stakeholder engagement issues. She has managed a portfolio of VTT’s jointly-funded (public) projects related to the Finnish and international nuclear sector (~250 VTT persons). She has been on the Finnish national governmental committee for the Nuclear Energy strategy (Vision2020, 2014) and served as an evaluator of European Commission research and development proposals.
Erika holds a Doctoral Degree from the University of Washington (Seattle, USA, 2001) in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with an emphasis on concrete material durability. Her VTT research areas are addressing utilization of sustainable materials and service life approaches to material performance. She has conducted R&D and technical support on radioactive waste repository issues for 18 years, for both Finland and international clients. Most recently, her expertise projects have focused on initial state performance of engineered barrier materials, construction, designs and safety for high level nuclear waste repositories, including being a project manager for Posiva Oy. She has earlier worked at Golder Associates. She has over 100 scientific articles and numerous public speaking engagements.
Contact information:
erika.holt@vtt.fi, +358 40 593 1986
https://www.vttresearch.com/nuclear
Last modified October 28, 2022, 6:26am MST
