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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ANS joins others in seeking to discuss SNF/HLW impasse
The American Nuclear Society joined seven other organizations to send a letter to Energy Secretary Christopher Wright on July 8, asking to meet with him to discuss “the restoration of a highly functioning program to meet DOE’s legal responsibility to manage and dispose of the nation’s commercial and legacy defense spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW).”
Rio Quinn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 9 | September 2024 | Pages 1874-1878
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2278931
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper analyzes the design of an alpha-decay sail. While previous studies have been conducted on the feasibility of alpha-decay sails, none have investigated the effects of different backing materials and backing material thicknesses on propulsion. This paper conducts simulations using the particle simulation toolkit Geant4 to determine the thrust produced from alpha-decay sails constructed of 238Pu and a backing layer made of aluminum, beryllium, lithium, or polyethylene. The results demonstrate that alpha-decay sails can be a very useful form of in-space propulsion, having the potential to dramatically decrease travel time beyond distances of 100 AU.
