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.
2023 ANS WINTER CONFERENCE AND EXPO
Kate H. Kelly is the director for Space and Emerging programs of BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), leading the strategy and execution of the space and advanced manufacturing portfolio.
Prior to her current position, Ms. Kelly was the Advanced Nuclear Systems Program Manager, focused on the development of nuclear projects to promote the company’s R&D interests in advanced manufacturing and nuclear thermal propulsion technologies. She also worked in project management, quality control and operational excellence within BWXT’s Nuclear Operations Group in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her previous responsibilities include managing a next generation reactor manufacturing development project, overseeing quality trending and performance initiatives, and leading cost reduction and improvement projects. She joined the company in 2012 as a system design engineer on BWXT’s small modular reactor (SMR) program.
For her work at BWXT and in the Lynchburg, Virginia community, Ms. Kelly was recognized by Lynchburg Business Magazine and in Woman Engineer Magazine in 2020. Ms. Kelly earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and has Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management Professional® certifications.
Last modified October 25, 2023, 2:30pm EDT
