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
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
July 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Take steps on SNF and HLW disposal
Matt Bowen
With a new administration and Congress, it is time once again to ponder what will happen—if anything—on U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste management policy over the next few years. One element of the forthcoming discussion seems clear: The executive and legislative branches are eager to talk about recycling commercial SNF. Whatever the merits of doing so, it does not obviate the need for one or more facilities for disposal of remaining long-lived radionuclides. For that reason, making progress on U.S. disposal capabilities remains urgent, lest the associated radionuclide inventories simply be left for future generations to deal with.
In March, Rick Perry, who was secretary of energy during President Trump’s first administration, observed that during his tenure at the Department of Energy it became clear to him that any plan to move SNF “required some practical consent of the receiving state and local community.”1
J. Jedruch, R. J. Nodvik
Nuclear Technology | Volume 3 | Number 8 | August 1967 | Pages 507-518
Technical Paper and Note | doi.org/10.13182/NT67-A27783
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The determination of the isotopic composition and the fission-product inventories of a spent reactor core is demonstrated through the proper selection of sampling points and analytical treatment of data using Core I of the Yankee reactor as an example. This core is found to contain 172 kg of 235U less than initially loaded, plus 97.0 kg of freshly generated Pu. Mass balances of U and Pu isotopes and the fission products are used to demonstrate the various possible ways of defining the end-of-life conversion ratio, with the preferred definition giving a value of 0.50 for the Yankee core. Methods of determining the total burnup from U and Pu concentrations, from 137Cs activity, and from plant calorimetrics are discussed and applied to the Yankee data and give 8.40 ± 0.21 GWD/MTU for the core average burnup.
