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
Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
M. Zucchetti, L. Di Pace, L. El-Guebaly, B. N. Kolbasov, V. Massaut, R. Pampin, P. Wilson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 55 | Number 2 | February 2009 | Pages 109-139
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-12
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Within the framework of the International Energy Agency, an international collaborative study on fusion radioactive waste has been initiated to examine the back end of the materials cycle as an important stage in maximizing the environmental benefits of fusion as an energy provider.The study addresses the management procedures for radioactive materials following the changeout of replaceable components and decommissioning of fusion facilities. We define this as "the back end" of the fusion materials cycle. It includes all the procedures necessary to manage spent radioactive materials from fusion facilities, from the removal of the components from the device to the reuse of these components through recycling/clearance, or to the disposal of the waste in geological repositories.Fusion devices have certain characteristics that make them environmentally friendly devices; minimization of long-lived waste that could be a burden for future generations is one of these characteristics.Recycling and clearance procedures and regulations have been recently revised, and the effects of these revisions on back-end fusion materials are examined in the paper. Finally, an integrated approach to the management of back-end fusion materials is proposed, and its application to three fusion reactor designs is discussed.