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.
T. Hayashi, K. Isobe, K. Kobayashi, Y. Iwai, Y. Kawamura, H. Nakamura, W. M. Shu, T. Arita, S. Hoshi, T. Suzuki, M. Yamada, T. Yamanishi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | October 2007 | Pages 651-658
Technical Paper | The Technology of Fusion Energy - Tritium, Safety, and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1563
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The design studies of Atmosphere Detirtiation System (ADS) have been carried out in Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) as a contribution of Japan to ITER. The performance of ADS has also been investigated under accidental conditions such as fire and co-existing of a poison gas for catalyst like SF6. There is no degradation of Detritiation Factor (DF) under co-existing of CO or CO2 up to 20% as a simulated fire condition. However, only 0.1% of SF6 degrades the DF from more than 1000 to 50, following reduction of water by SF4 etc. (decomposition products of SF6) at 773K of catalyst bed.For the tritium processing technologies, our efforts have been focused on the R & D of the tritium recovery system of breeding blanket. In case of ITER Test Blanket Module, a cryogenic molecular sieve bed system was designed and demonstrated. Furthermore, electro-chemical pumping system using a proton conductor is also investigated to design more effective system. The durability of electrolysis cell for Water Detritiation System (WDS) has been investigated and it is expected that the cell can endure more than 3 years' operation under the ITER WDS design condition.A series of fundamental studies on tritium safety technologies has been carried out as another major activity of JAEA for ITER and future fusion demo reactors. Tritium behavior in various confinement materials, tritium monitoring & accountancy, and detritiation were studied under collaboration programs with universities, using Caisson Assembly for Tritium Safety study.