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
May 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NRC proposes changes to its rules on nuclear materials
In response to Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” the NRC is proposing sweeping changes to its rules governing the use of nuclear materials that are widely used in industry, medicine, and research. The changes would amend NRC regulations for the licensing of nuclear byproduct material, some source material, and some special nuclear material.
As published in the May 18 Federal Register, the NRC is seeking public comment on this proposed rule and draft interim guidance until July 2.
Anthony Michael Scopatz
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 186 | Number 1 | April 2017 | Pages 83-97
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2016.1272384
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A method for quickly determining deployment schedules that meet any given fuel cycle demands is presented here. This algorithm is fast enough to perform in situ within low-fidelity fuel cycle simulators. It uses Gaussian process regression models to predict the production curve as a function of time and the number of deployed facilities. Each of these predictions is measured against the demand curve using the dynamic time warping distance. The minimum-distance deployment schedule is evaluated in a full fuel cycle simulation, and the generated production curve then informs the model on the next optimization iteration. The method converges within five to ten iterations to a distance that is less than 1% of the total deployable production. This speed of convergence makes it suitable for use even when fuel cycle realizations are expensive, as in higher-fidelity or agent-based simulators. A representative once-through fuel cycle is used to demonstrate the methodology for reactor deployment. However, the algorithm itself is multivariate and may be used to determine the deployment schedules of many facility types that meet a number of independent criteria simultaneously. The once-through, electricity production example was chosen for the simplicity of illustrating the method.