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
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
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.
H. J. Sutherland, J. E. Smaardyk, L. A. Kent
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 1 | June 1980 | Pages 70-79
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Reactor Safety / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32508
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An acoustic, pulse-echo technique has been used as part of the large-scale, sodium/concrete interaction tests being conducted at Sandia Laboratories to measure the penetration of a large pool (up to 186 kg) of liquid sodium (initial temperature as high as 600°C) into a limestone concrete crucible. The acoustic data give information on the penetration, penetration rate, and condition of the sodium/concrete interface during the test. Two distinct attack modes have been seen. The first is chemical, and proceeds initially at ∼i mm/min and is of limited extent. The second is mechanical (spallation), and proceeds more rapidly (∼4 mm/min) and appears to be limited only by the reaction kinetics.