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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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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Industry Update—May 2025
Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:
TerraPower’s Natrium reactor advances on several fronts
TerraPower has continued making aggressive progress in several areas for its under-construction Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project since the beginning of the year. Natrium is an advanced 345-MWe reactor that has liquid sodium as a coolant, improved fuel utilization, enhanced safety features, and an integrated energy storage system, allowing for a brief power output boost to 500-MWe if needed for grid resiliency. The company broke ground for its first Natrium plant in 2024 near a retiring coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyo.
Martin P. Sherman, Marshall Berman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 81 | Number 1 | April 1988 | Pages 63-77
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT88-A34079
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
It is possible to objectively determine whether a detonation can propagate in a given geometry (volume shape and size, obstacle configuration, degree of confinement) for a given mixture composition (concentrations of hydrogen, air, and steam); this is done by conservatively equating the detonation propagation criteria with the criteria for transition from deflagration to detonation. To reduce the degree of conservatism in this procedure, estimates of the probability of transition to detonation are constructed, based on subjective extrapolations of empirical data. A methodology is introduced that qualitatively ranks mixtures and geometries according to the degree to which they are conducive to transition to detonation. The methodology is then applied to analyzing the potential for local detonations in the Bellefonte reactor containment for a variety of accident scenarios. Based on codecalculated rates and quantities of hydrogen generation and calculated rates of transport and mixing, this methodology indicates a low potential for detonation except for one volume in a few cases.