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
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Zap Energy hits 37-million-degree electron temperatures in compact fusion device
Zap Energy announced April 23 that it has reached 1-3 keV plasma electron temperatures—roughly the equivalent of 11 to 37 million degrees Celsius—using its sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch approach to fusion. Reaching temperatures above that of the sun’s core (which is 10 million degrees Celsius temperature) is just one hurdle required before any fusion confinement concept can realistically pursue net gain and fusion energy.
A. Herrmann, B. Sieglin, M. Faitsch, ASDEX Upgrade Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 69 | Number 3 | May 2016 | Pages 569-579
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-187
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Monitoring the surface temperature of in-vessel components is part of machine protection. The surface temperature itself and the resulting temperature of the interface to the cooling structure have to be taken into account. The tolerated surface temperature is not a fixed quantity but depends on the heat load scenario. The interface temperature can be calculated by solving the heat diffusion equation and determining the temperature profile inside the target. Surface effects and parasitic radiation falsify the estimated temperature, which is higher than the real bulk temperature. From the machine protection point of view, the contributions are inherently safe. They might result in an early alarm, not justified by the target temperature itself reducing the tolerated operation range. Real-time characterization and quantification can be done by considering the temporal evolution of the measured surface temperature. This is recommended to be done by heat load calculation. Infrared (IR) systems under development allow one to calculate the heat load from the measured photon flux in real time. The impact of surface effects and parasitic radiation on the calculated temperature is dependent on wavelength. A suitable compromise for an IR system is a mid-wave IR system. It should be combined with a near-IR system for temperature validation at higher temperatures.