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
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Patrick Barbrault
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 122 | Number 2 | February 1996 | Pages 240-246
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE96-A24158
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Within the framework of French reprocessing policy, for several years, Electricité de France has been studying a high-moderating-ratio (HMR) pressurized water reactor that could accept 100% mixed-oxide (MOX) reloads. Total plutonium content is 9% to ensure a discharge burnup of 60 000 MWd/tonne. A high-moderating ratio (2.5 instead of 2.0) is obtained by replacing 36 fuel rods by water holes. This solution combines the advantages of high moderation (better efficiency of soluble boron, control rods, etc.) and technological continuity. The core should contain 241 fuel assemblies for a total thermal output of 4250 MW(thermal). The fuel management is easy, but core control requires the use of 10B-enriched boron carbide for the control rods and 10B-enriched soluble boric acid for the primary system, thereby ensuring satisfactory core behavior under accident conditions such as control rod ejection and unexpected valve opening on the secondary side. The advantages of this 100% MOX core compared with a 50% MOX core are discussed. This concept is fully compatible with the future European pressurized reactor (EPR). This 100% MOX HMR reactor could be the plutonium version of the EPR.
