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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Joel McDuffee, Rich Christensen, Daniel Eichel, Mike Simpson, Supathorn Phongikaroon, Xiaodong Sun, John Baird, Adam Burak, Shay Chapel, Joonhyung Choi, Jacob Gorton, D. Ethan Hamilton, Dimitris Killinger, Sam Miller, Jason Palmer, Christian Petrie, Daniel Sweeney, Adrian Schrell, James Vollmer
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 1 | October 2022 | Pages S234-S259
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2021.2017663
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The mission of the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) is to enable accelerated testing of advanced reactor fuels and materials as required for advanced reactor technologies. Each advanced reactor type has unique challenges, and these challenges affect the design of the testing vehicles used for accelerated testing. For molten salt reactor testing, some of the key focus areas are (1) understanding the complex thermal-hydraulic systems and materials that will facilitate heat removal from the reactor core, (2) mitigating the corrosion-associated issues that arise from using these materials at high temperatures, and (3) understanding how to measure and control salt composition/chemistry and properties during irradiation. This paper details the progress made toward surmounting these challenges to support future molten salt cartridge experiments in the VTR. Broadly, this work involves two major thrusts: design and analysis of an operating cartridge loop, and development of the instrumentation and control system needed to operate the loop successfully.