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Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Bipartisan Fusion Energy Act pushes for regulatory clarity
Sen. Alex Padilla (D., Calif.) introduced the Fusion Energy Act (S. 4151) last month with a bipartisan group of cosponsors—John Cornyn (R., Texas), Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Todd Young (R., Ind.), and Patty Murray (D., Wash.). The legislation would codify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulatory authority over commercial fusion energy systems to streamline the creation of clear federal regulations that will support the development of commercial fusion power plants—and would require a report within one year on a study of risk- and performance-based, design-specific licensing frameworks for “mass-manufactured fusion machines.
“Congress must do everything in its power to ensure continued U.S. leadership in developing commercial fusion energy facilities,” said Padilla as he introduced the bill. “The Fusion Energy Act would provide regulatory certainty for investors as the NRC develops and streamlines frameworks for such facilities.”
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by HFICD
Wednesday, November 15, 2023|1:00–2:45PM EST|Georgetown West
Session Chair:
Syed Bahauddin Alam (Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Session Organizer:
Vivek Agarwal (Idaho National Lab)
The nuclear industry, as highlighted by both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Energy (DOE), has yet to fully harness the potential of recent advancements in AI/ML techniques. In this context, Digital Twin (DT) technology is poised to play a pivotal role in facilitating risk-informed decision-making. The NRC's "FY2021-23 Planned Research Activities" and "NRC Future Focused Research" identify "Methodology and Evaluation Tools for Digital Twin Applications" as a top-priority strategic area. However, the implementation of DT in nuclear systems poses significant challenges that need to be addressed. These challenges encompass various aspects, including: (a) Incorporating trustworthy data analytics algorithms, (b) Dealing with noisy or erroneous data and addressing data unavailability, (c) Quantifying uncertainties associated with DT, (d) Ensuring robust optimization techniques, and (e) Developing update modules in DT through the resolution of "On-the-fly Inverse Problems." In this panel session, we will explore the enabling technologies and components required to establish DT in the nuclear industry. Our discussion will delve into the solutions for tackling the aforementioned challenges and unlocking the potential benefits of DT for nuclear systems.
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