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
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
January 2026
Latest News
Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
M. E. Rensink, T. D. Rognlien
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 67 | Number 1 | January 2015 | Pages 125-141
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-800
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Simulations of the heat flux on plasma-facing components from core exhaust plasma are reported for two possible ACT1 divertor configurations. One configuration uses divertor plates strongly inclined with respect to the poloidal magnetic flux surfaces similar to that planned for ITER and results in a partially detached divertor plasma. The second configuration has divertor plates orthogonal to the flux surfaces, which leads to a fully detached divertor plasma if the width of the divertor region is sufficient. Both configurations use scrape-off layer radiation from seeded impurities to yield an acceptable peak heat flux of ∼10 MW/m2 or smaller on the divertor plates and chamber walls. The simulations are performed with the UEDGE two-dimensional transport code to model both plasma and neutral components with some supplementary neutral modeling performed with the DEGAS 2 Monte Carlo code.