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
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Claude Degueldre, Jean-Marie Paratte
Nuclear Technology | Volume 123 | Number 1 | July 1998 | Pages 21-29
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2876
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The properties of zirconia cubic solid solutions doped with yttria, erbia, and ceria or thoria are investigated with emphasis on the potential use of this material as an inert matrix for Pu incineration in a light water reactor. The material is selected on the basis of its neutronic and chemical properties; Zr and Y are not neutron absorbers. Among the rare-earth elements, Er was identified as a suitable burnable poison and was found to be the best among the rare-earth elements. The high-density cubic solid solution is stable for a rather large range of compositions and from room temperature up to ~3000 K. The selected zirconia-based material has rather low heat conductivity (~2 Wm-1K-1) compared to UO2, and the annular pellet design was consequently suggested to overcome this low-energy transfer characteristic. Samples irradiated with low- and high-energy Xe ions up to a fluence of 1.8 × 1016 Xecm-2 were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Low-energy (60-keV) Xe ions did not produce amorphization. From the observed bubble formation, swelling values during irradiation at room temperature and at high temperature (925 K) were estimated to be 0.19 and 0.72% by volume, respectively. Furthermore, no amorphization was obtained by Xe irradiation under extreme conditions such as high-energy (1.5-MeV) Xe ion irradiation and low temperature (20 K). This confirms the robustness of this material and argues in favor of the selection of a zirconia-based material as an advanced nuclear fuel for Pu incineration.
