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 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2026
Nuclear Technology
January 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Godzilla is helping ITER prepare for tokamak assembly
ITER employees stand by Godzilla, the most powerful commercially available industrial robot available. (Photo: ITER)
Many people are familiar with Godzilla as a giant reptilian monster that emerged from the sea off the coast of Japan, the product of radioactive contamination. These days, there is a new Godzilla, but it has a positive—and entirely fact-based—association with nuclear energy. This one has emerged inside the Tokamak Assembly Preparation Building of ITER in southern France.
Meir Segev, A. Galperin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 125 | Number 1 | January 1997 | Pages 84-92
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE97-A24256
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Interest in generating energy with thorium fuel has increased lately as a result of the activation of subcritical ThO2 lattices by accelerated protons. A tight, ThO2 water-cooled lattice has been proposed to generate 200 MW(thermal) with 1.5-GeV protons in a current of ∼ 7mA. A tight-latticed core, consisting of a ThO2/233UO2 seed embedded in a large ThO2 blanket, has been proposed to generate 2400 MW(thermal) with 1.0-GeV protons in a current of 20 mA. A consistent detailed analysis of these two energy amplifiers, carried out with the HERMES, MCNP, KORIGEN, WIMS, and BOXER codes, results in performances inferior to those claimed. The net power generated will be one-fourth of that claimed for the former and 1/2.5 of that claimed for the latter.
