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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
May 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The 2025 ANS election results are in!
Spring marks the passing of the torch for American Nuclear Society leadership. During this election cycle, ANS members voted for the newest vice president/president-elect, treasurer, and six board of director positions (four U.S., one non-U.S., one student). New professional division leadership was also decided on in this election, which opened February 25 and closed April 15. About 21 percent of eligible members of the Society voted—a similar turnout to last year.
Kirk L. Shanahan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 4 | May 2017 | Pages 555-564
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1291042
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tritium decays to 3He, and when this decay occurs inside a metal tritide, the 3He is largely retained in the material’s bulk. This impacts the subsequent behavior of the hydrogen isotope absorption and desorption, altering the materials thermodynamic characteristics. Chemical substitution can form alternative miscible hydridable metal alloys over some concentration ranges with modified thermodynamic properties. This allows the ‘tuning’ of metal hydride characteristics to expand the inventory of available materials for use, potentially allowing a closer match to desired performance characteristics. It is important to quantify tritium aging effects in order to predict the long term, in-process behavior of metal hydride materials. The Savannah River National Laboratory has been interested in elucidating the impact of tritium exposure on the behavior of hydrideable metals and metal alloys. Pd alloy foils of nominal 5 and 9 at% Cr, Ni, and Co, were loaded with tritium, and stored for ~1 year in static storage. One sample (Pd-4.8 at% Ni) was subsequently stored for an additional ~3 years. Isotherms were determined following storage periods to study the tritium induced changes caused by tritium decay. Typical effects such as plateau pressure depression and heel formation were noted. The materials proved to be unusually sensitive to the isotherm determination process and decay effects were partially reversed, or “healed”. The Pd-4.8wt%Ni sample was removed from its storage unit, whereupon it was found to have turned into powder, and further studied with additional techniques elsewhere.