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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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
May 2025
Jan 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Webinar: MC&A and safety in advanced reactors in focus
Towell
Russell
Prasad
The American Nuclear Society’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division recently hosted a webinar on updating material control and accounting (MC&A) and security regulations for the evolving field of advanced reactors.
Moderator Shikha Prasad (CEO, Srijan LLC) was joined by two presenters, John Russell and Lester Towell, who looked at how regulations that were historically developed for traditional light water reactors will apply to the next generation of nuclear technology and what changes need to be made.
Alex Valentine, Thomas Berry, Steven Bradnam, Hari Chohan, Tim Eade, Callum Grove, James Hagues, Keir Hearn, James Hodson, Kimberley Lennon, Jonathan Naish, Joseph Neilson, Chantal Nobs, Lee Packer, Andrew Turner, Anthony Turner, Luke Woodall, Ross Worrall
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 8 | November 2023 | Pages 1008-1022
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2022.2141528
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Global research programs seeking to achieve a commercially viable model of a fusion power plant are being accelerated at an unprecedented rate. One critical element to the design and licensing is an accurate understanding of the radiation environment throughout the plant lifetime and subsequent decommissioning phase. The radiation field, which results from the nuclear fusion reaction, gives rise to highly complex phenomena such as flux leakage, materials activation, and decay gamma fields. Demonstration of compliance with limits, the integrity of components, and the permissibility of operations are all fundamental to regulatory approval and the overall safety of a nuclear device. As such, neutronics, which is used in the general sense to refer to the mapping of radiation fields in nuclear devices, is a critical design driver. The Applied Radiation Technology group at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a world leader in this field, developing new methods and deploying state-of-the-art codes to conduct nuclear analysis. As well as applied neutronics in areas spanning fusion reactors, medical applications, spallation neutron sources, and nuclear fission, there is an extensive parallel experimental program undertaking critical radiation field characterization and conducting measurements using an array of bespoke particle detection systems. This paper highlights recent technical developments made by this group in the context of outstanding challenges in this field, as well as providing an overview of current methods and capabilities for the broader interest of the community.