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
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
Meeting Spotlight
2021 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo
November 30–December 3, 2021
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Sep 2021
Jul 2021
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2021
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2021
Latest News
Matthew Denman: On Probabilistic Risk Assessment
Matthew Denman
Probabilistic risk assessment is a systematic methodology for evaluating risks associated with a complex engineered technology such as nuclear energy. PRA risk is defined in terms of possible detrimental outcomes of an activity or action, and as such, risk is characterized by three quantities: what can go wrong, the likelihood of the problem, and the resulting consequences of the problem.
Matthew Denman is principal engineer for reliability engineering at Kairos Power and the chair of the American Nuclear Society and American Society of Mechanical Engineers Joint Committee on Nuclear Risk Management’s Subcommittee of Standards Development. As a college student at the University of Florida, Denman took a course on PRA but didn’t enjoy it, because he did not see its connection to the nuclear power industry. Later, during his Ph.D. study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his advisor was Neil Todreas, a well-known thermal hydraulics expert. Todreas was working on a project with George Apostolakis, who would leave MIT to become a commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The project, “Risk Informing the Design of the Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor,” was a multi-university effort funded through a Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) grant. Todreas and Apostolakis were joined in this project by a who’s who of nuclear academia, including Andy Kadak (MIT, ANS past president [1999–2000]), Mike Driscoll (MIT), Mike Golay (MIT), Mike Lineberry (Idaho State University, former ANS treasurer), Rich Denning (Ohio State University), and Tunc Aldemir (Ohio State University).
The American Nuclear Society, in partnership with Discovery Education and the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, provides the highest standard in nuclear science education with Navigating Nuclear: Energizing Our WorldTM. This dynamic, standards-aligned program invites students to explore the many applications of nuclear science and its impact on energy, healthcare, food, and the environment through an interactive suite of FREE classroom resources.
Engage your students with curriculum for grades 3 through 12 backed by the expertise of leaders in nuclear science—the members of the American Nuclear Society. Resources include STEM project starters, digital lesson plans, nuclear industry career profiles, and exciting Virtual Field Trips! Navigating Nuclear provides you with the roadmap to successfully explore this topic in the classroom and make nuclear science accessible and exciting for students!
Learn More About the Program
Designed to increase understanding of nuclear energy and nuclear technology applications, Navigating Nuclear provides you with the tools to dig deeper into the role of nuclear science in fields like power generation, medicine, space exploration, food preservation, molecular science, and more.
Guide your students through the world of nuclear energy and related fields with digital lesson plans, project starters, career resources, and more to power up the learning in your classroom!
The need for a capable workforce qualified in STEM is growing and nuclear science offers many different pathways to successful careers. Get to know nuclear science professionals and learn how their experiences led them to nuclear energy and other exciting nuclear science fields.
Navigating Nuclear Virtual Field Trips take students behind the scenes to some of the most interesting places in the world—or even in this galaxy! Tour the largest nuclear power plant in the United States. Explore Idaho National Laboratory and meet the men and women discovering solutions to our energy challenges. Or travel into deep space to imagine how humans might live on the moon, Mars, or even further!
Last modified August 17, 2021, 11:24am CDT
