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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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!
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Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
L. A. Lawrence, D. C. Hata, D. F. Washburn
Nuclear Technology | Volume 41 | Number 1 | November 1978 | Pages 60-70
Technical Paper | Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32133
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Significant actinide redistribution was observed in the outer low-temperature region of uranium-plutonium mixed-oxide fuel Data from the large number of fuel pins examined indicated boundaries within which redistribution in the outer low-temperature regions of the fuel occurred. Plutonium redistribution was not observed in fuel pins with an initial fuel oxygen-to-metal ratio (O/M) of >1.98 or in fuel irradiated to burnups of <5.0 at.%. Fuel pins with an initial O/M ratio of 1.96 exhibited plutonium enrichments on the fuel outer periphery at a burnup of ≥5.0 at.%. At ∼6.5 at.% burnup, a transition in character of the actinide distribution occurred, resulting in plutonium enrichments in the equiaxed grain region and uranium enrichments on the outer periphery of the fuel. Increasing the fuel initial O/M to 1.97 decreased the burnup at which plutonium enrichment occurred near the equiaxed grain region from 6.5 to 5.0 at.%. Conversely, decreasing the initial O/M ratio from 1.96 to 1.95 increased the burnup at which plutonium enrichment occurred in the equiaxed grain region from ∼6.5 to ∼7.5 at.%.