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.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2026
Latest News
NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Weston M. Stacey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 200 | Number 1 | October 2017 | Pages 15-26
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1345585
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Georgia Tech concept of the Subcritical Advanced Burner Reactor (SABR) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) transmutation reactor and supporting analyses to date are summarized. SABR is based on the fast reactor physics and technology prototyped in Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) and proposed for the Integral Fast Reactor and the PRISM Reactor and on the tokamak fusion neutron source physics and technology that will be prototyped in ITER. Preliminary fuel cycle calculations indicate that subcritical operation would enable a proliferation-resistant fuel reprocessing cycle that would safely accommodate fuel with up to 100% TRU content and that introduction of SABRs in a 1-to-3 power ratio with light water reactors would reduce the required SNF high-level waste repository capacity (defined on the basis of decay heat released) by a factor of 10 to 100. Preliminary dynamic safety calculations indicate that SABRs could be shut down to the decay heat level by turning off the plasma heating power without core damage in loss of heat sink, loss of flow, and loss of power accidents, but that additional decay heat removal capability is needed in the case of total loss of primary or secondary system pumping power.