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
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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
May 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Canada clears Darlington to produce Lu-177 and Y-90
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has amended Ontario Power Generation’s power reactor operating license for Darlington nuclear power plant to authorize the production of the medical radioisotopes lutetium-177 and yttrium-90.
Valery A. Kashparov, Yuri A. Ivanov, Sergey I. Zvarisch, Valentin P. Protsak, Yuri V. Khomutinin, Alexander D. Kurepin, Edvard M. Pazukhin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 114 | Number 2 | May 1996 | Pages 246-253
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35253
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The oxidation of irradiated Chernobyl nuclear fuel at 670 to 1170 K for 3 to 21 h resulted in its destruction into fine particles, the dispersal composition of which is well described by lognormal distribution regularity. The median radius of the formed particles does not depend on the annealing temperature and decreases with the increase of the annealing period from 10 to 3 μm. Proceeding from the dispersal composition and matrix composition of the Chernobyl hot fuel particles, it can be concluded that the oxidation of nuclear fuel was one of the basic mechanisms of hot fuel particle formation during the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. With oxidation in air and the dispersal of irradiated oxide nuclear fuel at as low as 670 K, ruthenium, located on the granular borders, is released. Ruthenium is oxidized to volatile RuO4, sublimated, and condensed on materials of iron. Nickel and stainless steel can be efficiently used at high temperatures (tested to 1200 K) for radioruthenium adsorption in accidents and for some technological operations. As the temperature of hot fuel particles annealed in inert media increases from 1270 to 2270 K, the relative release of radionuclides increases in the following sequence: cesium isotopes; europium isotopes; cerium isotopes; americium isotopes; and ruthenium, plutonium, and curium isotopes.