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
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting 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
July 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NRC cuts fees by 50 percent for advanced reactor applicants
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced it has amended regulations for the licensing, inspection, special projects, and annual fees it will charge applicants and licensees for fiscal year 2025.
R. Koch
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 2 | March 2002 | Pages 163-172
Plasma Heating and Current Drive | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A11963514
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The additional heating of plasmas by injection of fest neutrals - or Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) - is reviewed. First, the limitations of ohmic heating in tokamaks and the other motivations for using additional heating in fusion machines are discussed. Next, the principle of operation of neutral beam injectors, and state of the art, are outlined. Positive-ion (PNBI) and negative-ion (NNBI) based concepts are discussed. Next, the physical processes by which the beam transfers energy to the plasma, namely ionisation and slowing-down are described. For both, an elementary theory is given and the comparison with experimental results is made. Applications of NBI to heating, current drive and rotation drive are reviewed. The prospects of NBI for ITER are commented.