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
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2026
Nuclear Technology
July 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The deadline arrives: Checking in on the Reactor Pilot Program
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14301, “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the DOE,” which instructed the Department of Energy to create a Reactor Pilot Program (RPP)—a new system in which companies could pursue DOE authorization to build and test their first-of-a-kind nuclear technologies. EO 14301 set an ambitious goal for that program: three reactors achieving criticality by July 4, 2026.
M. B. Chadwick, P. G. Young
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 108 | Number 2 | June 1991 | Pages 117-125
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE91-A23812
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The 178Hf(16+) isomeric state has a 31-yr half-life and could pose serious radioactive activation problems in nuclear fusion reactors if its production in 14-MeV neutron-induced reactions is significant. The relatively high excitation energy (2.447 MeV) of this state causes it to lie in the continuum region. If rotational band members above this state were populated in a reaction, they would gamma cascade into it. While the existence of such levels can be justified theoretically, they have not been experimentally resolved; therefore, it is necessary to reconstruct the rotational levels built on the isomeric state. Using preequilibrium and compound nucleus theories, the cross sections for this and other hafnium isomeric states are calculated and compared with experimental measurements where available.