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
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
James P. Adams, Michael L. Carboneau, Donald L. Hagrman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 103 | Number 1 | July 1993 | Pages 66-78
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34830
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The fission product behavior during two postulated loss-of-flow accidents (leading to high- and low-pressure core degradations) in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) has been analyzed. These transients are designated ATR transients LCP15 (high pressure) and LPP9 (low pressure). Normally, transients of this nature would be easily mitigated using existing safety systems and procedures. In these analyses, failure of these safety systems was assumed so that core degradation and fission product release could be studied. A probabilistic risk analysis was performed that indicated that the probability of occurrence for these two transients is on the order of 10−5 and 10−7per reactor year for LCP15 and LPP9, respectively. The fission product behavior analysis included calculations of the gaseous and highly volatile fission product (xenon, krypton, cesium, iodine, and tellurium) inventories in the fuel before accident initiation, release of the fission products from the fuel into the reactor vessel during core melt, the probable chemical forms, and transport of the fission products from the core through the reactor vessel and existing piping to the confinement. In addition to a base-case analysis of fission product behavior, a series of analyses was performed to determine the sensitivity of fission product release to several parameters including steam flow rate, (structural) aluminum oxidation, and initial aerosol size. The base-case analyses indicate that the volatile fission products (excluding the noble gases) will be transported as condensed species on zinc aerosols. Approximately 40% of the initial inventories of volatile fission products will be deposited within either the reactor vessel or the intact piping in the confinement, and 60% of the inventory will be released into the open confinement during transient LCP15. For transient LPP9, ∼15% of the initial inventories of cesium and iodine and 30% of the tellurium fission products are deposited within either the reactor vessel or the intact piping in the confinement, and the remaining inventory would be released into the open confinement. The different tellurium behavior within the reactor vessel during transient LPP9 was caused by chemical absorption of tellurium on the stainless steel structural surfaces.