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
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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.
Do Heon Kim, Jong Kyung Kim
Nuclear Technology | Volume 124 | Number 2 | November 1998 | Pages 175-182
Technical Paper | Radiation Biology and Medicine | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2917
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A subcritical multiplying assembly (SMA) was employed to improve the relatively low neutron fluxes of a 252Cf source, and the feasibility of using it as the neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy was explored. The Monte Carlo code MCNP was used to evaluate the effective multiplication factor keff of the entire system, the intensities and percentages of the epithermal neutron flux at the patient-end surface of the beam, and dosimetric properties of the beam in the elliptical brain phantom. The neutron beam with the SMA provides an epithermal neutron flux ~13.2 times higher than the beam without the SMA. After some optimization procedures, the beam in the final design provides a maximum advantage depth (AD) of 8.9 cm, a minimum AD of 7.3 cm, an advantage ratio of 5.5, and a therapeutic relative biological effectiveness dose rate of 4.23 cGy/min per 100 mg of 252Cf at a depth of 7.0 cm in the brain phantom. This dose rate is ~10 times higher than that provided by the beam designed without the SMA. Therefore, it is expected that the neutron beam can be more effective for treatment of tumors due to the increased therapeutic dose rates.