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
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2026
Nuclear Technology
March 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Access anywhere, anytime: Nuclear power, Ice Camp, and Rickover’s enduring standard of excellence
Admiral William Houston
As U.S. Navy submarines surface through Arctic ice during Ice Camp 2026, they demonstrate more than operational proficiency in one of the harshest environments on Earth. They reaffirm a technological truth first proven in August 1958, when the USS Nautilus completed its submerged transit of the North Pole: nuclear power enables access anywhere, anytime.
The Arctic is unforgiving, with vast distances, extreme cold, shifting ice, and no logistical infrastructure. Conventional propulsion is constrained by fuel, air, and endurance. Nuclear propulsion removes those constraints. Only a nuclear-powered submarine can operate anywhere in the world’s oceans, including under the polar ice, undetected and at maximum capability for extended periods. Nuclear power provides sustained high speed and the endurance to reposition across the globe without refueling.
Christian Passard, Alain Mariani, Fanny Jallu, Jacques Romeyer-Dherbey, Hervé Recroix, Michel Rodriguez, Joel Loridon, Caroline Denis, Hervé Toubon
Nuclear Technology | Volume 140 | Number 3 | December 2002 | Pages 303-314
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3341
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The development of a passive-active neutron assay system for alpha low level waste characterization at the French Atomic Energy Commission is discussed. Less than 50 Bq[] (about 50 g Pu) per gram of crude waste must be measured in 118-l "European" drums in order to reach the requirements for incinerating wastes. Detection limits of about 0.12 mg of effective 239Pu in total active neutron counting, and 0.08 mg of effective 239Pu coincident active neutron counting, may currently be detected (empty cavity, measurement time of 15 min, neutron generator emission of 1.6 × 108 s-1 [4]). The most limiting parameters in terms of performances are the matrix of the drum - its composition (H, Cl...), its density, and its heterogeneity degree - and the localization and self-shielding properties of the contaminant.
