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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
July 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Nuclear fuel cycle reimagined: Powering the next frontiers from nuclear waste
In the fall of 2023, a small Zeno Power team accomplished a major feat: they demonstrated the first strontium-90 heat source in decades—and the first-ever by a commercial company.
Zeno Power worked with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to fabricate and validate this Z1 heat source design at the lab’s Radiochemical Processing Laboratory. The Z1 demonstration heralded renewed interest in developing radioisotope power system (RPS) technology. In early 2025, the heat source was disassembled, and the Sr-90 was returned to the U.S. Department of Energy for continued use.
Amalia Chambon, Luca Zanini
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 2 | February 2024 | Pages 411-422
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2194202
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The European Spallation Source (ESS) is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden. At the time of the first beam-on-target, foreseen in 2025, a first set of neutron scattering instruments will be commissioned, in addition to a test beamline for characterization of the source. For every planned beamline, all optics components will already have been installed in the monolith shielding surrounding the spallation target, but instruments will still be under construction in the neutron bunker area. Blocks of shielding, referred to as temporary beam stops or wall plugs, are then required to capture neutrons that will come out through the bunker wall feedthroughs during operation. This paper presents the results of parametric studies carried out to design temporary beam stops to assess the possibilities of reducing the weight and cost of such components and also to investigate the shielding efficiency of a wall plug as an alternative solution.
