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
Apr 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2026
Nuclear Technology
March 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
A year in orbit: ISS deployment tests radiation detectors for future space missions
The predawn darkness on a cool Florida night was shattered by the ignition of nine Merlin engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The thrust of the engines shook the ground miles away. From a distance, the rocket appeared to slowly rise above the horizon. For the cargo onboard, the launch was anything but gentle, as the ignition of liquid oxygen generated more than 1.5 million pounds of force. After the rocket had been out of sight for several minutes, the booster dramatically returned to Earth with several sonic booms in a captivating show of engineering designed to make space travel less expensive and more sustainable.
G. D. Bazinet, W. F. Brehm, M. G. Down, D. K. Matlock
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 718-723
Materials Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22944
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The corrosion behavior of selected materials in a liquid lithium environment was studied in support of system-and component designs for the Fusion Materials Irradiation Test (FMIT) Facility. Testing conditions ranged from ∼ 3700 to ∼ 6500 hours of exposure to flowing lithium at temperatures from 230° to 270°C and static lithium at temperatures from 200° to 500°C. Principal areas of investigation included lithium corrosion/erosion effects on FMIT lithium system baseline and candidate materials. Material coupons and full-size prototypic components were evaluated to determine corrosion rates, fatigue crack growth rates, structural compatibility, and component acceptability for the lithium system. Based on the results of these studies, concerns regarding system materials and component designs were satisfactorily resolved to support a 20-year design life requirement for the FMIT lithium system.