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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Naphtali M. Mokgalapa, Tushar K. Ghosh, Robert V. Tompson, Sudarshan K. Loyalka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 203 | Number 3 | September 2018 | Pages 336-347
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1453729
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Graphite dust is generated in the reactor core during normal operation of very high temperature reactors (VHTRs). This dust is transported throughout the reactor circuit and plates-out at different locations. The resuspension of graphite dust is believed to be a major contributor to the nuclear source term. The adhesion force is an important parameter governing the resuspension of the dust. The present study employed an atomic force microscope to measure the adhesive force between a reactor-grade graphite cluster “particle” and VHTR structural materials including Inconel 617 and Hastelloy X in an air glove box. Results for a reactor-grade graphite (MLRF-1 from SGL Carbon Ltd.) cluster particle interacting with Inconel 617 and Hastelloy X samples are reported under four different surface conditions including as received, and after 5, 10, and 15 min of oxidation. These forces were also predicted using the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts theoretical model with the estimate of the work of adhesion. The measured values depend on oxidation times but are in general a factor of about 20 lower than the predicted values. With surface roughness taken into account, the predicted values differ from the measured values by factors of 2 and 4 at the maximum for Hastelloy X and Inconel 617, respectively.