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
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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’s David Wright visits the Hill and more NRC news
Wright
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the spotlight today for three very different reasons. First, NRC Chair David Wright was on Capitol Hill yesterday for his renomination hearing in front of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. Second, the NRC released its updated milestone schedules according to the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) and the executive orders signed by President Trump last month; and third, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday, 28 former NRC officials have condemned the dismissal of Commissioner Hanson earlier this month.
Renomination: EPW Committee chair Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.) opened the hearing with a statement praising Wright’s experience and emphasized the urgency of stable leadership at the NRC.
“China is executing a rapid build-out of its nuclear industry,” Capito said. “The demand for clean, baseload power is skyrocketing as we position America to win the AI race.”
M. Ionescu-Bujor, D. G. Cacuci
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 136 | Number 1 | September 2000 | Pages 85-121
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE136-85
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work presents results that illustrate the validation of the Adjoint Sensitivity Model (ASM-REL/TF) corresponding to the two-fluid model with noncondensable(s) used in RELAP5/MOD3.2. This validation has been carried out by using sample problems involving (a) a liquid phase only, (b) a gas phase only, and (c) a two-phase mixture (of water and steam). Thus, the "Two-Loops with Pumps" sample problem supplied with RELAP5/MOD3.2 has been used to verify the accuracy and stability of the numerical solution of the ASM-REL/TF when only the liquid phase is present. Furthermore, the "Edwards Pipe" sample problem, also supplied with RELAP5/MOD3.2, has been used to verify the accuracy and stability of the numerical solution of the ASM-REL/TF when both (i.e., liquid and gas) phases are present. In addition, the accuracy and stability have been verified of the numerical solution of the ASM-REL/TF when only the gas phase is present by using modified "Two-Loops with Pumps" and the "Edwards Pipe" sample problems in which the liquid- and two-phase fluids, respectively, were replaced with pure steam. The results obtained for these sample problems depict typical sensitivities of junction velocities and volume-averaged pressures to perturbations in initial conditions and indicate that the numerical solution of the ASM-REL/TF is as robust, stable, and accurate as the original RELAP5/MOD3.2 calculations.This work also illustrates the role that sensitivities of the thermodynamic properties of water play for sensitivity analysis of thermal-hydraulic codes for light water reactors. The well-known 1993 ASME Steam Tables are used to present typical analytical and numerical results for sensitivities of the thermodynamic properties of water to the numerical parameters that appear in the mathematical formulation of these properties. Particularly highlighted are the very large sensitivities displayed by the specific isobaric fluid and gas heat capacities Cpf and Cpg, respectively; the specific fluid enthalpy hf; the specific gas volume Vg; the volumetric expansion coefficient for gas g; and the isothermal coefficient for gas kg. The dependence of g and kg on the most sensitive parameters turns out to be nonlinear, while the dependence of Cpf, Cpg, hf, and Vg on the most sensitive parameters turns out to be linear, so the respective sensitivities predict exactly the effects of variations in the respective parameters. On the other hand, the sensitivities of the specific fluid volume Vf, the volumetric expansion coefficient for fluid f, the specific gas enthalpy hg, and the isothermal coefficient of compressibility for fluid kf to the parameters that appear in their respective mathematical formulas are quite small. Finally, it is noted that such deterministically calculated sensitivities can be used to rank the respective parameters according to their importance, to assess the effects of nonlinearities and, more generally, to perform comprehensive sensitivity/uncertainty analyses of thermal-hydraulic codes that use a water substance as the working fluid.
