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 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
January 2026
Latest News
Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
V. Romanello et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 262-267
Fusion-Fission Hybrids and Transmutation | Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13430
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The performances of three different types of innovative transmutation systems have been investigated in order to assess in a comparative way their potential to manage nuclear waste arising in a geographical region, where different countries have different policies with respect to nuclear energy development, but share the objective of a common optimized waste management strategy in order to minimize the waste masses sent to a geological repository. The three systems are 1) a critical low conversion ratio fast reactor (LCFR); 2) an accelerator driven system (ADS) and 3) a hybrid fission-fusion system (FFH). In order to simplify the comparison, the three systems have been loaded with comparable fuels, in particular with the same Pu to Minor Actinides (MA) ratio. A waste management scenario study has been performed: the results show that, apart from the technological readiness of each single option, the performances, in terms e.g. of time needed to eliminate specific spent fuel inventories or in terms of reduction of decay heat and radiotoxicity in a deep geological repository, are rather comparable.