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
Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
G. A. Ratz
Nuclear Technology | Volume 17 | Number 2 | February 1973 | Pages 153-159
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT73-A31242
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The changes that occurred in composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties of a sample of welded AISI Type 304 stainless-steel pipe that had been exposed to liquid sodium for 21 000 h within the range 300 to 800°C have been determined. The results of the investigation showed that under the liquid-sodium service conditions studied, Type 304 steel pipe did not undergo any marked deleterious change in mechanical properties. The tensile strength of the exposed sample was above the minimum value specified by the ASTM for welded Type 304 steel pipe, whereas the yield strength was at the minimum value specified. The results of standard flattening tests on specimens from the exposed sample indicated that they could be flattened without cracking. However, a compositional change occurred on the inner surface of the pipe (the surface that had been exposed to the liquid sodium for 21 000 h). Nitrogen, sulfur, and sodium were absorbed, and a relatively brittle layer, ∼0.05 mm thick, was formed at the inner surface. Thus, when Type 304 steel is used for liquid-sodium service, sodium should be kept as free as possible of contaminants such as nitrogen and sulfur, in addition to oxygen.
