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
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2025
Nuclear Technology
September 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NNSA awards BWXT $1.5B defense fuels contract
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has awarded BWX Technologies a contract valued at $1.5 billion to build a Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) pilot plant in Tennessee in support of the administration’s efforts to build out a domestic supply of unobligated enriched uranium for defense-related nuclear fuel.
Kedar Bhope, Mayur Mehta, Samir Khirwadkar, Sunil Belsare, Rajamannar Swamy, Tusharkumar Patel, Premjit singh Kongkham, Srikanta Sahu, Nikunj Patel, Prakash Mokariya
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 81 | Number 7 | October 2025 | Pages 671-690
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2495495
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Plasma-facing components (PFCs) with tungsten armor material are expected to withstand the extreme incident heat flux conditions in a nuclear fusion tokomak. In situ measurements of thermal-mechanical behavior under high heat flux (HHF) conditions are important and essential. With this aim, a novel three-dimensional (3D) (stereo) digital image correlation (DIC) diagnostics with an optical mirror adapter in a single optical view port is established for in situ measurements of a full-field strain and deformation profile on PFCs during heat flux testing in the High Heat Flux Test Facility (HHFTF) at the Institute for Plasma Research. In the present work, the thermally induced field deformations of a reflector divertor mock-up under the heat flux conditions of 200 hHF cycles at 5 MW/m2 and 1000 hHF cycles at 7 MW/m2 are measured using the developed 3D-DIC diagnostics. Calibration and validation qualification tests are conducted on the experimental platform as well as numerical COMSOL simulation to ensure the performance and the accuracy of the 3D-DIC diagnostics system. Because of periodic thermal stress, the thermomechanical behavior cases of bonded and de-bonded W-Cu tile interface are captured in situ by measured strain curves and compared with pre-ultrasonic and post-ultrasonic test analyses. Full-field strain and displacement profiles on the reflector divertor mock-up during heat flux testing are also obtained. The 3D-DIC diagnostics results demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy for in situ strain and displacement measurements of PFCs during HHF tests in HHFTF.