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
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
DOE awards $134M for fusion research and development
The Department of Energy announced on Wednesday that it has awarded $134 million in funding for two programs designed to secure U.S. leadership in emerging fusion technologies and innovation. The funding was awarded through the DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program in the Office of Science and will support the next round of Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives and the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) awards.
Alexander Glaser, Laura Berzak Hopkins, M. V. Ramana
Nuclear Technology | Volume 184 | Number 1 | October 2013 | Pages 121-129
Technical Paper | Proliferation Issues/Nuclear Safeguards | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A19873
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) with power levels much smaller than the currently standard 1000- to 1600-MW(electric) reactor designs have been proposed as a potential game changer for the future of nuclear power. We explore the contours of an expanded nuclear power generation capacity and the associated fuel cycles. To lay out a possible geographical distribution of nuclear capacity, we use results from an integrated assessment model used in energy and climate policy analysis. A wide variety of SMR designs with distinct characteristics are under development. To explore the impacts of these different designs, we have developed notional models for two leading SMR types and analyzed their resource requirements using results from neutronics calculations. Finally, we offer an initial assessment of the proliferation risks associated with these notional SMR designs compared to standard light water reactors (LWRs) using a Markov model. The analysis indicates that SMRs based on LWR technology (integral pressurized water reactors) have higher resource requirements as compared to gigawatt-scale reactors, while SMRs with long-lived cores have much lower resource requirements but a higher fissile content in the spent fuel they generate. These characteristics translate into increased proliferation risks unless they are offset by reactor design features or dedicated safeguards approaches.