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
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2023)
February 6–9, 2023
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Jan 2023
Jul 2022
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2023
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Cs-137 sealed source lost in Western Australia
A rendering of the sealed source capsule’s appearance. (Image: DFES)
Authorities are searching 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) of Australia’s Great Northern Highway, between Perth and the remote town of Newman, for a lost sealed-source capsule containing cesium-137. The source was part of a density gauge used by mining company Rio Tinto at its mining operations in Western Australia.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) of Western Australia reported that the density gauge containing a 6-mm-diameter (0.24-inch-diameter) by 8-mm-height (0.31-inch-height) source capsule was sent by flatbed truck to Perth for repair, leaving Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine site in Western Australia on January 12 and arriving in Perth on January 16. The package containing the gauge, however, was not inspected until January 25.
Upon opening the package, it was found that the gauge was broken apart with one of four mounting bolts missing. The source itself and all screws on the gauge were also missing. It is assumed that vibrations from the truck broke the gauge apart and allowed the screws and capsule to fall through the bolt hole and away from the truck. DFES said they were notified of the loss on the evening of January 25.
L. A. El-Guebaly, ARIES Team, and FNSF Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 74 | Number 4 | November 2018 | Pages 340-369
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2018.1494946
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In recent decades, fusion energy for electricity has become an international issue with worldwide interest in several magnetic fusion concepts offering the most promising energy source for this century. From existing experiments to power plants, several next-step facilities (NSFs) must be built to bridge the large gaps in fusion science and nuclear technology. During the course of fusion studies, all power plants and NSFs require an integral nuclear assessment to identify the nuclear parameters and address key issues related to tritium breeding ratio (TBR), blanket design, selection of low-activation materials, radial/vertical build optimization and definition, magnet protection, shielding, activation, and survivability of structural materials in 14-MeV neutron environment. This paper presents our design philosophy, nuclear assessment approach, and recent research results for ARIES conceptual tokamak, spherical tokamak, and stellarator power plants as well as NSFs. Some features of the nuclear activities [such as tritium breeding requirement (overall TBR = 1.05), blanket concept, and radwaste issues] remained fixed between the various designs, while others [such as service lifetime (20 to 200 displacements per atom) and shielding requirements] were subject to change to meet the specific design needs. Emerging challenges and lessons learned from nuclear assessments performed during recent decades are highlighted throughout the paper. In particular, the cost implication of uncertainties in the TBR prediction and the large amount of low-level waste generation are important challenges facing the fusion community and should be addressed by interdisciplinary research programs.