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 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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
Nov 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2025
Nuclear Technology
November 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The progress so far: An update on the Reactor Pilot Program
It has been about three months since the Department of Energy named 10 companies for its new Reactor Pilot Program, which maps out how the DOE would meet the goal announced by executive order in May of having three reactors achieve criticality by July 4, 2026.
H. Huang, H. W. Xu, K. P. Youngblood, D. R. Wall, R. B. Stephens, K. A. Moreno, A. Nikroo, K. J. Wu, M. Wang, A. V. Hamza
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 63 | Number 2 | March-April 2013 | Pages 190-201
Technical Paper | Selected papers from 20th Target Fabrication Meeting, May 20-24, 2012, Santa Fe, NM, Guest Editor: Robert C. Cook | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-TFM20-24
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The National Ignition Facility point design uses a five-layer capsule to modify the X-ray absorption in order to achieve optimized shock timing. A stepwise copper dopant design defines the layer structure; however, the as-deposited Cu distribution is significantly altered during the CH mandrel removal by pyrolysis. The changes are significant: (a) Cu diffuses on average several microns, a distance more than an order of magnitude larger than predicted from the bulk diffusion data, and (b) the Cu distribution, as a result of diffusion, is highly heterogeneous, introducing a local variation of [approximately]0.06 at. % near the original layer interface. In this study, we developed quantitative techniques to measure Cu diffusion and explored its correlation to beryllium microstructures. Plausible diffusion mechanisms and mitigation methods will be discussed. These findings will enable more accurate evaluation of the expected target performance.