ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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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Jun 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
July 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Hanford proposes “decoupled” approach to remediating former chem lab
Working with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy has revised its planned approach to remediating contaminated soil underneath the Chemical Materials Engineering Laboratory (commonly known as the 324 Building) at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The soil, which has been designated the 300-296 waste site, became contaminated as the result of a spill of highly radioactive material in the mid-1980s.
P. Maka, E. Van Heerden, M. Rezaee
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 199 | Number 1 | April 2025 | Pages S987-S993
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2024.2315905
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Evaluating atmospheric dispersion and radiological doses in the vicinity of buildings is required for small modular reactors (SMRs) because of the reduced size of their exclusion area boundary. The current Canadian nuclear industry tool for these calculations implements the methodology defined in CSA Standard N288.2-M91, which was written to support large Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactors as opposed to SMRs. The ORCA (On/offsite Radiological Consequences of Accidents) code has been developed to address this technical concern in addition to evaluating atmospheric dispersion and doses in the far field. The code calculates worker and public doses following an airborne release of radioactive material into the atmosphere under postulated accident conditions at a nuclear facility. The current paper presents the key assumptions and methods utilized in ORCA and discusses qualification of the software to the requirements of CSA Standard N286.7-16. The new model is applicable to SMRs and existing reactor designs and reduces conservatisms in the near field (i.e., <1 km from the source) relative to the methods in CSA N288.2-M91.