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
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2026
Nuclear Technology
July 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NRC proposes security regulation changes
In 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14300, “‘Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” which directs the NRC to conduct a sweeping, multifaceted overhaul of its structure, culture, and regulations with the aim of facilitating increased deployment of new nuclear technologies and capacity.
Marcos X. Navarro, Marziyeh Zamiri, Martin E. Griswold, John F. Santarius, Gerald L. Kulcinski, Max Lagally, Toshiki Tajima
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 6 | August 2019 | Pages 542-550
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1610317
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This research explores the performance of graphene as a coating for plasma-facing components (PFCs) in a nuclear fusion environment. Our recent studies have shown that graphene can act as a resistant layer against plasma exposure and ion bombardment. PFCs tend to develop surface morphologies that lead to mass loss of the wall material, potentially diminishing their lifetime and degrading plasma performance. We present a characterization of graphene-coated samples of W irradiated in the C-2W divertor. Energy analyzers were used to determine average ion fluxes to the samples on the order of 1018 D+/cm2. Two samples were exposed over 1210 plasma discharges. Raman spectroscopy showed that slow ions (30 < E < 100 eV) interact strongly with the graphene, introducing vacancies into the membrane (ID/IG ~ 0.7), making it possible to assess the limiting factors on such a coating’s lifetime. We also found that graphene slows down impurity deposition on the material surfaces due to graphene’s stable configuration and low surface energy. This first attempt at testing the coating in a large-scale fusion experiment aims to expand the possible wall candidates for PFCs.