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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Copper melting behavior at extreme temperatures could inform fusion materials
Using SLAC’s electron camera, researchers recorded timestamps of solid copper atoms (orange) as they melted (yellow) after being blasted with laser heat. This graphic shows how copper atoms changed over a period of several femtoseconds (millionths of a billionth of a second), notated here as fractions of a picosecond. Instead of the predicted collapse, the researchers saw a gradual melting. (Image: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has announced researchers have conducted experiments testing how copper melts under extreme conditions, such as those it might be exposed to in a fusion machine. The results, published in Nature Communications, found that a copper thin film was more resilient to melting than models had predicted, uncovering molecular dynamics that had been missing from calculations.
“These results greatly improve the simulations we use to predict which materials have the best shot at surviving the extreme conditions of future fusion reaction chambers,” said Mianzhen Mo, the SLAC staff scientist who led the research.
Plenary Session
Tuesday, November 14, 2023|8:00–9:45AM EST|International Ballroom Center
Presented byJohn HopkinsPresident and Chief Executive OfficerNuScale Power, LLC
Space: the next nuclear frontier. These are the celestial trailblazers of the nuclear industry. Their continuing mission is to explore the cosmos, seek out new nuclear science and technology applications, and boldly go where no one has gone before! What role can nuclear play as the world proceeds into the 21st century’s version of the space race? In addition to highlighting recent successes and progress in the burgeoning field, we will ask each panelist to share their own personal vision for nuclear in space and the challenges to achieving their vision. While the dream of space exploration may have previously been reserved for a select few, this panel will traverse the myriad of ways in which recent advances in space flight will enable the future of industrialization and human habitation in space.
Moderator:Matt Wargon, P.E. Senior Nuclear Engineer, TerraPower, LLC
Speakers (click on photo to read bio)
To access the session recording, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
Register NowLog In
