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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
July 2025
Latest News
The U.S. Million Person Study of Low-Dose-Rate Health Effects
There is a critical knowledge gap regarding the health consequences of exposure to radiation received gradually over time. While there is a plethora of studies on the risks of adverse outcomes from both acute and high-dose exposures, including the landmark study of atomic bomb survivors, these are not characteristic of the chronic exposure to low-dose radiation encountered in occupational and public settings. In addition, smaller cohorts have limited numbers leading to reduced statistical power.
Georgeta Radulescu, Kaushik Banerjee, Robert A. Lefebvre, L. Paul Miller, John M. Scaglione
Nuclear Technology | Volume 199 | Number 3 | September 2017 | Pages 299-309
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1348800
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Used Nuclear Fuel-Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-ST&DARDS) methodology to perform automated containment analyses for potential transportation packages based on canister loading map information is described, and its capability is illustrated with example results. The allowable leakage rate is calculated with the procedures provided in ANSI N14.5-2014 and NUREG/CR-6487, which were adapted for containment analysis of a transportation package containing fuel assemblies with different nuclear characteristics (e.g., initial enrichment, burnup, and cooling time) and clad integrity (intact or damaged). UNF-ST&DARDS applies different source term calculation methodologies for low-burnup fuel (LBF) (i.e., <45 GWd/tonne U) assemblies and high-burnup fuel (HBF) (i.e., ≥45 GWd/tonne U) assemblies. The LBF radionuclide activities are based on actual fuel assembly burnup, initial enrichment, and cooling time. Bounding radionuclide activities based on a fuel pellet burnup value of 65 GWd/tonne U and actual fuel assembly cooling time are used for HBF assemblies. The fraction of failed fuel rods and the release fractions for the contributors to releasable source terms recommended in NUREG-1617 are used in the containment analysis regardless of fuel assembly burnup. However, UNF-ST&DARDS supports different parameter values for LBF and HBF assemblies. The containment analysis methodology for as-loaded transportation packages is presented in detail, and the UNF-ST&DARDS containment analysis capability is illustrated with results for simulated transportation packages containing spent nuclear fuel canisters in dry storage at selected sites.