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Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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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High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Faten N. Al Zubaidi, Kyle L. Walton, Robert V. Tompson, Tushar K. Ghosh, Sudarshan K. Loyalka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 6 | June 2019 | Pages 790-800
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1542257
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effect of long-term oxidation on the total hemispherical emissivity of Type 316L stainless steel (SS 316L) is of interest in nuclear plant safety and is reported on here. ASTM standard C835-06 [American Society for Testing and Materials, 2006] was used for measuring the total hemispherical emissivity of this material for the following surface conditions: (1) “as-received” from the manufacturer (essentially unoxidized) and (2) oxidized in air at 573 K for up to 3000 h. The emissivity of the as-received samples varied within the range from 0.24 at 434 K to 0.34 at 1026 K. Oxidation in air at 573 K for 500 h increased the emissivity range of the oxidized sample from 0.28 at 429 K to 0.38 at 1096 K. There was no further significant change in emissivity observed following an increase in the oxidation time from 500 to 3000 h. It is suspected that the emissivity ceased to increase during the additional oxidation time because of chromium oxide that formed on the SS 316L surface inhibiting further oxidation.
