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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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!
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Latest News
Nuclear fuel cycle reimagined: Powering the next frontiers from nuclear waste
In the fall of 2023, a small Zeno Power team accomplished a major feat: they demonstrated the first strontium-90 heat source in decades—and the first-ever by a commercial company.
Zeno Power worked with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to fabricate and validate this Z1 heat source design at the lab’s Radiochemical Processing Laboratory. The Z1 demonstration heralded renewed interest in developing radioisotope power system (RPS) technology. In early 2025, the heat source was disassembled, and the Sr-90 was returned to the U.S. Department of Energy for continued use.
M. Zucchetti, F. Bombarda, B. Coppi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 222-226
Fusion-Fission Hybrids and Transmutation | Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13423
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The foreseen future expansion of nuclear power would involve a solution to burn the long half-life transuranics (TRU) in the spent nuclear fuel discharged from LWRs. Moreover, high-energy neutrons can be very useful for many processes. The study addresses the development of a tokamak neutron source for a hybrid fission-fusion demonstration experimental device, using Ignitor-based technologies. Ignitor is a proposed compact high magnetic field tokamak, aimed at reaching ignition in DT plasmas. A revision of its operating parameters, in order to act a as a suitable neutron source in a hybrid device, is discussed, and a new operating scenario is proposed. Features of the tokamak neutron source are illustrated and preliminary results are discussed. A two-phase project is described, in order to test an Ignitor-based neutron source and then implement an experimental device for demonstration of technical feasibility of TRU transmutation.