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
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
A series of firsts delivers new Plant Vogtle units
Southern Nuclear was first when no one wanted to be.
The nuclear subsidiary of the century-old utility Southern Company, based in Atlanta, Ga., joined a pack of nuclear companies in the early 2000s—during what was then dubbed a “nuclear renaissance”—bullish on plans for new large nuclear facilities and adding thousands of new carbon-free megawatts to the grid.
In 2008, Southern Nuclear applied for a combined construction and operating license (COL), positioning the company to receive the first such license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2012. Also in 2008, Southern became the first U.S. company to sign an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a Generation III+ reactor. Southern chose Westinghouse’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor, which was certified by the NRC in December 2011.
Fast forward a dozen years—which saw dozens of setbacks and hundreds of successes—and Southern Nuclear and its stakeholders celebrated the completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4: the first new commercial nuclear power construction project completed in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
Delgersaikhan Tuya, Toru Obara
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 193 | Number 5 | May 2019 | Pages 481-494
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1540209
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A multiregion integral kinetic (MIK) code based on the integral kinetic model and a Monte Carlo neutron transport method has been developed with a new time-dependent feedback modeling capability. The current MIK code is applicable to the supercritical power transient following reactivity insertion in a fissile system of arbitrary geometry and composition, taking its feedback mechanisms into account. The new time-dependent feedback modeling capability allows a more direct and accurate treatment of complicated and nonlinear feedback mechanisms in a given system. The purpose of this study is to verify the MIK code and its time-dependent feedback modeling capability through various supercritical transient experiments conducted at the Godiva, TRACY, and SILENE facilities. Specifically, four supercritical experiments were selected and simulated using the MIK code. The various complicated feedback mechanisms—thermal expansion in Godiva, and Doppler broadening, thermal expansion, and radiolytic gas creation in TRACY and SILENE—provide a good benchmark for verifying the MIK code and its time-dependent feedback model. The obtained results show generally good, albeit occasionally poor, agreement with experimental results depending on the specific experiment. When the reasons for the poor agreement are considered, however, it may be concluded that the simulated results show promising agreement with the experiments, verifying the MIK code and its time-dependent feedback modeling capability.