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Fusion Science and Technology
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On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
Ralf-Dieter Penzhorn, Uwe Berndt, Erhard Kirste, Jacqueline Chabot
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 32 | Number 2 | September 1997 | Pages 232-245
Technical Paper | Tritium System | doi.org/10.13182/FST97-A19893
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The permeation of protium, deuterium, and an equimolar deuterium-tritium mixture through finger-type Pd-Ag permeators of various configurations operated either in/out or out/in has been compared in parametric studies. The parameters included the permeate pressures; the feed-and-bleed flow rates; and the feed-gas composition, i.e., helium, Q2, and CQ4 (Q-hydrogen, deuterium, tritium). Results on the dependence of the hydrogen isotope breakthrough into the bleed-gas stream and thus on hydrogen isotope decontamination factors were obtained as a function of feed-gas flow. The observed isotopic effects are large, i.e., H2/D2 = 1.72 ± 0.03 and H2/DT = 2.06 ± 0.03. No evidence of permeator deterioration was observed after 1.5 yr of discontinuous operation with hydrogen isotopes—mostly deuterium-tritide. In situ evidence on the integrity of a Pd-Ag permeator was obtained from empirical permeation curves, helium leak measurements, and hydrogen isotope breakthrough curves. Methane poisons Pd-Ag slowly but progressively at 360°C. When the hydrogens in methane are replaced by tritium, the rate of poisoning considerably increases, and after a few days, the overall poisoning becomes severe. The poisoning by hydrocarbons can be completely reversed by heat treatment in laboratory air.