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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.
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International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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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Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
S. J. Pawel
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 369-374
Materials | Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13447
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Type 316L stainless steel capsules containing commercially pure sodium and miniature tensile specimens of HT-UPS (austenitic, 14Cr-16Ni), NF-616 (ferritic/martensitic, 9Cr-2W-0.5Mo), or 316L (austenitic, 17Cr-10Ni-2Mo) stainless steel were exposed at 600 and 700°C for 100 and 400 h as a screening test for compatibility. Specimen weight, tensile properties, and microstructure of HT-UPS and 316L were found to be largely immune to changes resulting from sodium exposure, but NF-616 was susceptible to substantial decarburization at 700°C. Subsequently, two thermal convection loops (TCLs) constructed of 316L and loaded with commercially pure sodium and miniature tensile specimens of HT-UPS and 316L were operated for 2000 h each - one between 500 and 650°C, the other between 565 and 725°C - at a flow rate of about 1.5 cm/s. Under these dynamic conditions, changes in specimen appearance, weight, and tensile properties were observed to be very minor in all cases, and there was no metallographic evidence of microstructural changes, composition gradients, or mass transfer resulting from prolonged exposure in a TCL. Thus, it appears that HT-UPS and 316L stainless steels are similarly compatible with commercially pure sodium under these conditions.
