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
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
January 2026
Latest News
Fusion roundup: Helion sets temperature record; Inertia raises $450M
Two start-ups working to commercialize fusion energy made headlines last week. Helion Energy announced that its Polaris prototype fusion energy machine recently demonstrated measurable deuterium-tritium fusion and achieved a plasma temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius (MÂșC). Newcomer Inertia Enterprises announced that it has raised $450 million in its Series A fundraising round.
Juho Lehmusto, J. Matthew Kurley, III, Ercan Cakmak, James R. Keiser, Daniel Lindberg, Markus Engblom, Bruce A. Pint, Stephen S. Raiman
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 3 | March 2024 | Pages 727-734
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2204175
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new apparatus was built to rapidly cool molten salts in liquid argon to prevent contamination during quenching and enable new insight into the structure in the liquid state. To test the applicability of the apparatus, several industrially relevant chloride salt compositions were first melted, rapidly solidified, and then characterized. The design proved applicable for the rapid quenching of molten salt. Furthermore, the structure of the apparatus prevented exposure of the rapidly quenched salt to impurities (humidity, oxygen, etc.). X-ray diffraction of salt specimens cooled with and without liquid argon showed differences including a structure further from the expected stoichiometric equilibrium with rapid cooling. Of particular interest is the chemical state of metallic impurities, and this may be probed using electron paramagnetic resonance.