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
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
P. W. Fisher, M. J. Gouge, B. J. Denny
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 845-849
Plasma Fuelingand Heating, Control, and Currentdrive | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963043
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
As part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) plasma fueling development program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has fabricated a pellet injection system to test the mechanical and thermal properties of extruded tritium. This repeating, single-stage, pneumatic injector, called the Tritium-Proof-of-Principle Phase II (TPOP-II) Pellet Injector, has a piston-driven mechanical extruder and is designed to extrude and accelerate hydrogenic pellets sized for the ITER device. The TPOP-II program has the following development goals: evaluate the feasibility of extruding tritium and deuterium-tritium (D-T) mixtures for use in future pellet injection systems; determine the mechanical and thermal properties of tritium and D-T extrusions; integrate, test, and evaluate the extruder in a repeating, single-stage light gas gun that is sized for the ITER application (pellet diameter ~7 to 8 mm); evaluate options for recycling propellant and extruder exhaust gas; and evaluate operability and reliability of ITER prototypical fueling systems in an environment of significant tritium inventory that requires secondary and room containment systems.
In tests with deuterium feed at ORNL, up to 13 pellets have been extruded at rates up to 1 Hz and accelerated to speeds of 1.0 to 1.1 km/s, using hydrogen propellant gas at a supply pressure of 65 bar. Initially, deuterium pellets 7.5 mm in diameter and 11 mm in length were produced–the largest cryogenic pellets produced by the fusion program to date. These pellets represent about a 10% density perturbation to ITER. Subsequently, the extruder nozzle was modified to produce pellets that are almost 7.5-mm right circular cylinders. Tritium and D-T pellets have been produced in experiments at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Tritium Systems Test Assembly. Hydrogenic pellets will be used in ITER to sustain the fusion power in the plasma core and may be crucial in reducing first-wall tritium inventories by a process of “isotopic fueling” in which tritium-rich pellets fuel the burning plasma core and deuterium gas fuels the edge.
