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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
R. E. MacPherson, J. C. Amos, H. W. Savage
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 8 | Number 1 | July 1960 | Pages 14-20
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE8-1-14
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In order to investigate the design and fabrication problems inherent in compact, high-performance heat exchangers for aircraft nuclear propulsion applications, extensive development testing was done by the ANP Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on bifluid (molten salt-NaK) heat exchangers and on liquid metal (NaK-air) radiators. These test units were prototypes of the heat transfer equipment which was to be used in the Aircraft Reactor Test at ORNL. Five bifluid test loops and one liquid metal test loop were used for performance and endurance testing of these components at simulated reactor operating conditions. The molten salt used was a sodium-zirconium-uranium fluoride mixture of composition NaF—50 mole %, ZrF4—46 mole %, UF4—4 mole %. The NaK used was 56 wt % sodium and 44 wt % potassium. A total of 47,000 hr of operation at 1200–1700°F was accumulated on 18 heat exchangers and 20 radiators. The program demonstrated that the compact heat exchanger geometries tested possessed the performance capabilities and mechanical integrity to meet ART design requirements.