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
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2024
Nuclear Technology
August 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
Taraknath Woddi, Kenneth N. Ricci
Nuclear Technology | Volume 184 | Number 2 | November 2013 | Pages 156-168
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-22
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A parametric study was performed on the thorium-to-233U breeder fuel cycle for pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) similar to the existing CANDU type. The objective was to estimate the sensitivity of the thorium breeder PHWR energy cost to fuel reprocessing costs, reactor capital costs, fuel specific power, fuel-to-moderator ratio, and reactor size and to find optimal parameters to minimize the energy cost for reasonable economic assumptions. A baseline model thorium heavy water breeder reactor (THWBR) was developed from these parameters to show how an existing PHWR would perform economically if fueled only with thorium and the 233U bred and reprocessed from that thorium. This study found that the baseline model THWBR is not cost competitive with the current PHWR fuel cycle using natural uranium but may be significantly closer in cost to the natural uranium fuel cycle than models discussed in previous publications. Because the proposed thorium reactor can, with the assistance of some thorium fuel reprocessing, achieve a higher average fuel burnup than the once-through natural uranium cycle, the waste management costs will be lower while the reprocessing costs will be higher than the natural uranium fuel system. When the strategic and proliferation-resistance values are included, the thorium breeder PHWR may be competitive with natural uranium PHWRs and light water reactors in some markets. The next phase of our study is expected to show how to use novel combinations of unconventional PHWR core geometries to increase the breeding ratio and fuel burnup, decrease the reprocessing requirements, and make a thermal breeder reactor more economical.