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
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.
H. Plitz
Nuclear Technology | Volume 37 | Number 1 | January 1978 | Pages 48-58
Technical Paper | Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32090
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Received December 21, 1976 Accepted for Publication September 7, 1977 Experience with continued operation of failed mixed-oxide fuel pins in liquid-metal-cooled reactors or in-pile sodium loops is available from a variety of beyond-fuel-failure experiments. The phenomena and effects on a large reactor system of continued beyond-fuel-failure operation are not well understood, but, except for the release and deposition of fission products and the chemical reaction of sodium coolant to oxide fuel, leading to pin swelling, no failure propagation due to continued operation of failed fuel pins has been observed. For economic reactor operation, further investigations are needed to establish a catalog of fuel failure types, sizes, and locations to describe the time-dependent effects of continued operation on reactor operation, shutdown requirements, instrumentation, surveillance, circuit systems, contamination, maintenance systems, and plant efficiency.