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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
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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.
George C. Wu, Lawrence Ruby
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 68 | Number 3 | December 1978 | Pages 349-351
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A27311
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Three-group diffusion theory has been applied to a computation of the 231Pa mass required to sustain a fast-neutron chain reaction. The method was tested by preliminary calculation of several 235U-238U systems and of a single 239Pu-240Pu system. The best agreement between predictions and measurements was found for high-enrichment 235U-238U systems. In the case of 231Pa, where many of the necessary data do not exist, use was made of the characteristics of 237Np as a substitute. The predicted critical radius for 231Pa is 22.67 ± 1.81 cm, and the corresponding critical mass is 750 ± 180 kg.
