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 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
August 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Texas A&M welcomes uranium conversion research
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) has signed a research agreement with Quantum Leap Energy (QLE) “to advance and de-risk the commercial production of high-purity uranium hexafluoride (UF6).”
QLE is an Austin, Texas–based subsidiary of ASP Isotopes (ASPI), which is developing an isotope enrichment platform for applications in nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, and semiconductors. QLE specializes in the uranium conversion step of the nuclear fuel cycle—the conversion of yellowcake uranium concentrate (U3O8) into UF6 prior to enrichment.
G. B. Hiremath, N. R. Banapurmath, Ashok M. Sajjan, N. H. Ayachit, N. M. Badiger
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 200 | Number 8 | August 2026 | Pages 1924-1933
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2546745
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The shielding parameters for gamma rays, charged particles, and neutrons were assessed for epoxy composites doped with boron carbide nanoparticles using EPIXs, NGCal, ESTAR, PSTAR, and ASTAR software. Boron carbide nanoparticles with concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 0.4% were synthesized and then characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The FTIR results show that there is no notable shift or omission of spectral bands with the incorporation of boron carbide nanoparticles in epoxy composites. The SEM results indicate good dispersion and uniform distribution of nanoparticles in epoxies. The concentration of boron carbide nanoparticles was increased to 30% to evaluate their effectiveness as a shielding material against nuclear radiation. The evaluated results show that there are no significant changes in gamma-ray mass attenuation coefficient values for the composites in the selected energy region. On the other hand, the effective atomic number values vary substantially from 10% to 30%, with an increase in boron carbide concentrations of up to 30%. The exposure buildup factor and energy absorption buildup factor values exhibited sharper peaks at 40 mean free paths (mfp) compared to 1 mfp in the lower-energy regions. Furthermore, the mass attenuation factor for thermal neutrons is found to be of higher values than those for concrete, water, and commercial glass, indicating that the present composite is a promising nuclear radiation-shielding material. The total stopping power for protons and alpha particles for these composites showed peaks at 0.08 and 0.6 MeV, respectively. The current results demonstrate that the selected epoxy composites doped with boron carbide nanoparticles are an effective nuclear radiation-shielding material.