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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Aug 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
R. D. Gasser, W. T. Pratt
Nuclear Technology | Volume 47 | Number 2 | February 1980 | Pages 282-307
Technical Paper | Reactor Siting | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32433
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An assessment is made of the containment margin available in the Fast Flux Test Facility to mitigate the consequences of a postulated failure of in-vessel post-accident heat removal following a hypothetical core disruptive accident. The consequences of a number of assumed meltdown configurations (both in-vessel and ex-vessel) are assessed using the CACECO (CAvity, CEll, COntainment) containment analysis computer code together with currently available melt front penetration models. The sensitivity of the accident scenarios to a number of crucial assumptions is established by scoping studies. It is concluded from both the in-vessel and ex-vessel analyses that sodium vapor combustion is a major source of reactor containment building (RCB) pressurization. The conditions (a combination of sodiumconcrete reaction, pool size, and decay heat level) that most rapidly bring the sodium to boiling, together with those that enhance mass transfer of sodium vapor to the RCB, are the ones that most significantly affect the pressure response.