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Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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
The 2025 ANS election results are in!
Spring marks the passing of the torch for American Nuclear Society leadership. During this election cycle, ANS members voted for the newest vice president/president-elect, treasurer, and six board of director positions (four U.S., one non-U.S., one student). New professional division leadership was also decided on in this election, which opened February 25 and closed April 15. About 21 percent of eligible members of the Society voted—a similar turnout to last year.
Ryan Kelly, Pavel Tsvetkov, Sunil Chirayath, John Poston, Evans Kitcher
Nuclear Technology | Volume 190 | Number 1 | April 2015 | Pages 72-87
Technical Paper | Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-155
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The objective of this paper is to analyze the uncertainty in radiation dose rate estimates outside of a used nuclear fuel (UNF) dry cask storage unit due to the parametric variability of concrete compositions and densities. This requires the selection of a limited number of concrete compositions from a standardized database and the development of a reference dry cask model, which can be used to estimate dose rate from neutrons and gamma rays. The model was developed for use in calculations with MCNP, with reference data from a UNF assembly source and geometry details based on the Holtec HI-STORM 100S UNF dry cask storage system, both provided by the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. A number of cases have been developed and analyzed to compare the effects of variations in concrete compositions considering nominal densities, variations from nominal densities, fixed densities regardless of the specific composition, and variations in the decay source. The analysis confirmed that the parametric variability of concrete compositions is a major source of uncertainty in evaluations of dry cask dose rates. While precise results depend on the compositions compared, general trends can be identified. The largest fraction of the dose value in all cases, typically 70%, is due to gamma rays produced by the fission products. Density variation had a dominant effect on the dose rate. Composition variations, while density was held fixed, indicated that the specific composition data significantly impact the dose rates produced by neutrons and associated capture gamma rays. The impact due to composition variation on neutron dose rate was found to be on the order of 70% or higher for these test cases. The analysis indicates that uncertainties in concrete characteristics at the time of on-site pour procedures impact the actual shielding efficiency and, therefore, must be evaluated.