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
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
B. J. Merrill, T. D. Marshall, H. Y. Khater, S. Malang, C. P. C. Wong
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 44 | Number 2 | September 2003 | Pages 375-381
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Tritium and Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A363
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This article summarizes the results of the safety evaluation of the Evaporation of Lithium and Vapor Extraction (EVOLVE) W-alloy first wall (FW) and blanket concept. We have analyzed the EVOLVE design response during a confinement bypass accident. A confinement bypass accident was chosen because, based on previous safety studies, this accident can produce environmental releases by breaching the primary radioactive confinement boundary of EVOLVE, which is the EVOLVE vacuum vessel (VV). As a consequence of a bypass accident, air from a room adjoining the reactor enters the plasma chamber by way of a failed VV port. This air reacts with the high temperature metals inside of the VV to release energy in the case of a lithium spill, or to mobilize radioactive material by oxidation, and then transport this material to the environment by natural convection airflow through the failed VV port. We use the MELCOR code to analyze the response of EVOLVE during this accident. Based on these results, the EVOLVE concept can meet the no-evacuation dose goal set by the DOE Fusion Safety Standard if the EVOLVE confinement building ventilation system is closed within two hours of the onset of this accident.