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
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
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
H. Kido, M. Nemoto, K. Tomita, N. Kurosawa, H. Kimura, H. Yasuda
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 4 | November 2011 | Pages 1272-1275
Environmental and Organically Bound Tritium | Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12662
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, located in northeastern Aomori prefecture, is currently undergoing the final commissioning test using actual spent nuclear fuels (the Active Test). Tritium had been discharged from the reprocessing plant and some effects to the environment were observed since the Active Test had been started at the reprocessing plant on March 31, 2006. The purpose of this study is to predict the environmental impact of the reprocessing plant once it becomes operational. An atmospheric dispersion simulation system, developed by the authors, has been utilized to predict the expected tritium dispersion during the plant future operations. In this study, a simulation of tritium dispersion was carried out using wind velocities and wind directions as prediction factors for future HTO activity. The simulation results were compared with actual HTO activity measurements taken during the autumn of 2006 and the spring and autumn of 2007. The results of the simulation appear to accurately reflect the actual measured results from HTO measurements in the autumn seasons of both 2006 and 2007, however, there were discrepancies between the data set from the spring of 2007 and predicted results formulated by the simulation for that same period.