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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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!
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Latest News
Webinar: MC&A and safety in advanced reactors in focus
Towell
Russell
Prasad
The American Nuclear Society’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division recently hosted a webinar on updating material control and accounting (MC&A) and security regulations for the evolving field of advanced reactors.
Moderator Shikha Prasad (CEO, Srijan LLC) was joined by two presenters, John Russell and Lester Towell, who looked at how regulations that were historically developed for traditional light water reactors will apply to the next generation of nuclear technology and what changes need to be made.
Yoshitaka Chikazawa, Yasushi Okano, Mamoru Konomura, Naoki Sawa, Yoshio Shimakawa, Toshihiko Tanaka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 157 | Number 2 | February 2007 | Pages 120-131
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3807
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A small reactor has the potential to be utilized as a power source to meet diverse social needs and reduce capital risks. In remote areas, populations tend to be small, and an economic power grid may not be available. In such situations, a small power source with a capacity of less than 50 MW(electric) without refueling is attractive since the costs for fuel transfer to such a site are expensive. In the present study, a metal fuel core with a lifetime of 30 yr and a simple reactor plant design has been proposed. The local burnup reactivity change in every core region is minimized by adjusting the zirconium content and the smear density of the three-core region to achieve a 550°C core outlet temperature. At the end of the cycle, the burnup reactivity is evaluated to be 1.1% of (dk/kk'), achieving a 30-yr core life. The reactor vessel is dramatically simplified by eliminating a fuel-handling system. The number of main cooling loops is reduced to one by installing dual electromagnetic pumps in the primary sodium circuit. The nuclear steam supply system mass, at 309 tonnes, shows that the present loop-type concept can more dramatically reduce material mass than that of the previous pool-type concept of 484 tonnes. The rough estimation of the electricity cost shows that this concept will be competitive for remote sites. Transient analyses show that a self-actuated shutdown system enhances the passive safety features, thus ensuring reactor integrity in anticipated transient without scram events.