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.
Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Jesson D. Hutchinson, John D. Bess
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 163 | Number 3 | November 2009 | Pages 285-290
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE163-285
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Subcritical measurements were conducted with an -phase plutonium sphere reflected by nickel hemishells using the 252Cf source-driven noise analysis method to provide criticality safety benchmark data. Measured configurations included a bare plutonium sphere as well as the plutonium sphere reflected by the following nickel thicknesses: 1.27, 2.54, 3.81, 5.08, and 7.62 cm. A certain ratio of spectral quantities was measured for each configuration, which varies linearly with the keff of the system under small perturbations. In addition, two types of Monte Carlo calculations were employed: a modified version of MCNP to calculate the ratio of spectral quantities and a KCODE calculation. From the measured and computed quantities, the effective multiplication factor of each configuration can be approximated. The inferred keff for all six configurations compared well with computed values. A comprehensive uncertainty analysis was then performed that includes uncertainties in the geometry and materials present in the system in addition to the uncertainties in the method and nuclear data.
