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.
Division Spotlight
Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2023)
February 6–9, 2023
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Jan 2023
Jul 2022
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2023
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
January 2023
Latest News
Nuclear energy: enabling production of food, fiber, hydrocarbon biofuels, and negative carbon emissions
In the 1960s, Alvin Weinberg at Oak Ridge National Laboratory initiated a series of studies on nuclear agro-industrial complexes1 to address the needs of the world’s growing population. Agriculture was a central component of these studies, as it must be. Much of the emphasis was on desalination of seawater to provide fresh water for irrigation of crops. Remarkable advances have lowered the cost of desalination to make that option viable in countries like Israel. Later studies2 asked the question, are there sufficient minerals (potassium, phosphorous, copper, nickel, etc.) to enable a prosperous global society assuming sufficient nuclear energy? The answer was a qualified “yes,” with the caveat that mineral resources will limit some technological options. These studies were defined by the characteristic of looking across agricultural and industrial sectors to address multiple challenges using nuclear energy.
K. W. Wong, L. Bures, K. Mikityuk
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 8 | August 2022 | Pages 1266-1278
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1971025
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Helium gases are utilized to remove fission products from the molten salt fast reactor (MSFR) core during operation. Helium gases and other volatile fission products may be introduced into the intermediate heat exchanger channels. The effect of these gases on heat transfer is essential for the MSFR to operate properly, especially in laminar flow regimes. The computational fluid dynamics code PSI-BOIL was selected to examine this problem because of its interface tracking capability. A periodic square duct simulation created the flow regime, resulting in a sliding bubble regime. Following that, we examined the impact of heat transfer using an extended nonperiodic channel simulation with a succession of corner bubble arrays. Due to the combined effects of low thermal diffusivity and laminar flow characteristics, it is shown that the length of heat transfer augmentation may extend to at least five bubble diameters downstream of the bubble placement. Finally, we examined the impact of interphasic heat transfer between an inert gas and a liquid. The bulk of the heat transfer amplification effect was due to the motion of the bubbles rather than interphasic heat transfer.