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
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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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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.
R. R. Smith
Nuclear Technology | Volume 53 | Number 2 | May 1981 | Pages 147-154
Technical Paper | Realistic Estimates of the Consequences of Nuclear Accident / Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32619
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Three series of destructive reactor experiments were examined from the viewpoint of fission product dispersal to the environment and fission product retention in the fuel, coolant, and structural surroundings.The experiments included the following: the Boiling Reactor Experiment (BORAX-I), 1954; Special Power Excursion Reactor Test (SPERT-I), 1962; and Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power Transient Reactor test series (SNAPTRAN) 2/10A-3, 1964; and SNAPTRAN-2, 1966. All but SNAPTRAN-2 were carried out in a water medium. Particular emphasis was placed on the release behavior of iodine fission products since it is these that have the highest radiological effectiveness. The results of the studies showed that when fuel is damaged in a water medium essentially all of the radioiodine is retained in the water. Essentially none was volatilized and dispersed to the atmosphere. In the case of fuel damage in an air medium (SNAPTRAN-2), 70% of the radioiodine was released to the atmosphere. Release fractions for the noble gas fission products were also evaluated. These ranged from a low of 3 to 4% in SNAPTRAN-2/10A-3 (water medium) to a high of 75% in SNAPTRAN-2 (air medium). These data, along with those for radioiodine, confirm the effectiveness of water as a medium for limiting the release of fission products to the environment from damaged fuel.
