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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Aug 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
DOE-NE’s newest fuel consortium includes defense from antitrust laws
The Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy is setting up a nuclear fuel Defense Production Act Consortium that will seek voluntary agreements with interested companies “to increase fuel availability, provide more access to reliable power, and end America’s reliance on foreign sources of enriched uranium and critical materials needed to power the nation’s nuclear renaissance.” According to an August 22 DOE press release, the plan invokes the Defense Production Act (DPA) to give consortium members “defense from antitrust laws when certain criteria are met” and “allow industry consultation to develop plans of action.” DOE-NE is looking for interested companies to join the consortium ahead of its first meeting, scheduled for October 14.
B.A. Smith, Z. Piek, P. Thomas, R. Vieira
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 1189-1193
Ignition Device | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29504
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The status of the R&D program to evaluate low friction materials for use in the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) is given. The goal is to provide material with a friction coefficient of 0.1 or lower at a 77 K interface between the central solenoid and the case of the toroidal field (TF) coil inner leg. The material must withstand 3000 machine pulses under a transverse compressive stress of about 207 MPa and be able to withstand relative surface motions of the order of 2 mm. A testing machine capable of providing 1.3 MN of compressive load and 0.44 MN of oscillating thrust in the direction of relative motion was prepared and is described in the paper together with the instrumentation and control system. Data can be taken at room temperature and at 77 K. Measured room temperature friction coefficients of the initial single stroke tests are plotted for twelve candidate materials as a function of compressive stress. All candidates exhibited friction coefficients below 0.1 for compressive stress above 172 MPa. Single stroke results on two candidates at 77 K showed friction coefficients higher than their room temperature values by a factor of about 3 at 44 MPa compression, with the coefficients tending toward their room temperature values as the compression was increased to 228 MPa. Of the seven candidates tested cyclically with a 5 mm stroke at 253 MPa and 77 K, only two types of Fiberslip materials met the requisite 3000 cycles. Friction coefficients for all materials are plotted as a function of the number of cycles.