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.
Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
D. E. Post, N. A. Uckan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 3 | May 1992 | Pages 1427-1433
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29922
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
While the determination of the optimum parameters for a tokamak involves the complex trade-off of a large number of engineering and physics constraints, the overall dimensions are actually determined by a relatively simple set of criteria. These criteria are based on the tokamak radial build and elementary physics and engineering requirements, including guidelines for nTτE, the aspect ratio, A=R/a, the edge safety factor, qψ95%, the plasma elongation, the size of the neutron shield, and the peak field at the toroidal field coil. Two of these parameters, the aspect ratio and plasma elongation, can be chosen so as to optimize the design parameters and minimize the size and cost of the tokamak. The ITER design point of R ∼ 6 m and a ∼ 2 m follows from these constraints and the parameter choices for aspect ratio and elongation.