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
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2026
Nuclear Technology
January 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Oak Ridge focuses neutron scattering studies on TRISO fuels
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is reporting a development in TRISO fuel research that could help evaluate high-temperature gas reactor fuels. ORNL researchers used the Spallation Neutrons and Pressure Diffractometer at the lab’s Spallation Neutron Source to make neutron scattering measurements on TRISO fuel particles containing high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).
Yecheng Yu, Ping Tan, Yinjie Lin, Yuying Hu, Huidong Guo, Hao Lei, Zhongqi Zhang, Jiadong Li, Delin Hu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 2 | February 2021 | Pages 299-315
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1747839
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A proton therapy facility based on an isochronous superconducting cyclotron is under constructed at the Proton Therapy Facility of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Due to the limitation of minimum energy extracted by the energy selection system in the upstream beamline, a range shifter is installed at the end of the nozzle to further decrease the proton beam energy so that the shallow-seated tumors can be treated. In this paper, the physical structure, energy degradation scheme, and material optimization selection of the range shifter are discussed and analyzed by Monte Carlo simulation software Geant4 and FLUKA. At the same time, the treatment outcome on the energy degradation process and its influence on the synthesis of spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) in the treatment plan system after the application of the range shifter are analyzed. The results show that by using a high-density polyethylene energy-degrading plate with a thickness of 42.35 mm, combined with two 30-mm copper collimators, the range shifter can achieve a good energy-degradation effect while significantly reducing the beam horizontal penumbra at the edge of the radiation field. At the same time, the addition of the range shifter can reduce the number of the energy level required to form the SOBP and shorten the treatment time, but it will inevitably lead to a slight increase in the longitudinal penumbra.