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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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!
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Latest News
BREAKING NEWS: Trump issues executive orders to overhaul nuclear industry
The Trump administration issued four executive orders today aimed at boosting domestic nuclear deployment ahead of significant growth in projected energy demand in the coming decades.
During a live signing in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump called nuclear “a hot industry,” adding, “It’s a brilliant industry. [But] you’ve got to do it right. It’s become very safe and environmental.”
T. Brown et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 3 | September 2013 | Pages 662-669
Test Blanket, Fuel Cycle, and Breeding | Proceedings of the Twentieth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE-2012) (Part 2) Nashville, Tennessee, August 27-31, 2012 | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A19168
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fusion pilot plant study was initiated to clarify the development needs in moving from ITER to a first of a kind fusion power plant, following a path similar to the approach adopted for the commercialization of fission. The pilot plant mission encompassed component test and fusion nuclear science missions plus the requirement to produce net electricity with high availability in a device designed to be prototypical of the commercial device. Three magnetic configuration options were developed around this mission: the advanced tokamak (AT), spherical tokamak (ST) and compact stellarator (CS).With the completion of the study and separate documentation of each design option a question can now be posed; how do the different designs compare with each other as candidates for meeting the pilot plant mission? In a pro/con format this paper will examine the key arguments for and against the AT, ST and CS magnetic configurations. Key topics addressed include: plasma parameters, device configurations, size and weight comparisons, diagnostic issues, maintenance schemes, availability influences and possible test cell arrangement schemes.