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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
July 2025
Latest News
World Bank, IAEA partner to fund nuclear energy
The World Bank and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement last week to cooperate on the construction and financing of advanced nuclear projects in developing countries, marking the first partnership since the bank ended its ban on funding for nuclear energy projects.
G. L. Kulcinski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 411-421
Fusion Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11962976
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An alternate approach to the development of safe, clean, and economical fusion energy for the 21st Century is presented. Instead of continuing exclusively on the path of larger and more costly magnetic confinement fusion reactors based on the DT cycle, it is proposed that near term commercial opportunities using fusion plasmas be identified and pursued. Specific examples of such opportunities are given in the areas of the detection of explosives, the production of medical isotopes, and the destruction of long lived fission product isotopes. It is also suggested that a more profitable path to the goal of fusion electricity might be to concentrate on small, simple devices that eventually can burn the more advanced fusion fuels that emit few if any neutrons. Such devices could gain back the public confidence and counter the “fusion is always 50 years away” syndrome.