ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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!
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Latest News
BREAKING NEWS: Trump issues executive orders to overhaul nuclear industry
The Trump administration issued four executive orders today aimed at boosting domestic nuclear deployment ahead of significant growth in projected energy demand in the coming decades.
During a live signing in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump called nuclear “a hot industry,” adding, “It’s a brilliant industry. [But] you’ve got to do it right. It’s become very safe and environmental.”
Michael Martin Nieto, A. C. Hayes, William B. Wilson, Corinne M. Teeter, William D. Stanbro
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 149 | Number 3 | March 2005 | Pages 270-276
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE05-A2493
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The feasibility of using the detection of electron antineutrinos produced in fission to monitor the time dependence of the plutonium content of nuclear power reactors is discussed. If practical, such a scheme would allow worldwide, automated monitoring of reactors and, thereby, the detection of certain proliferation scenarios. For GW(electric) power reactors, the count rates and the sensitivity of the antineutrino spectrum (to the core burnup) suggest that monitoring of the gross operational status of the reactor from outside the containment vessel is feasible. As the plutonium content builds up in a given burn cycle, the total number of antineutrinos steadily drops; and this variation is quite detectable, assuming fixed reactor power. The average antineutrino energy also steadily drops, and a measurement of this variation would be very useful to help offset uncertainties in the total reactor power. However, the expected change in the antineutrino signal from the diversion of a significant quantity of plutonium, which would typically require the diversion of as little as a single fuel assembly in a GW(electric) reactor, would be very difficult to detect.