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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Nominations open for CNTA awards
Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness is accepting nominations for its Fred C. Davison Distinguished Scientist Award and its Nuclear Service Award. Nominations for both awards must be submitted by August 1.
The awards will be presented this fall as part of the CNTA’s annual Edward Teller Lecture event.
Alberto Talamo, S. N. P. Vegendla, A. Bergeron, F. Heidet, B. Ade, B. R. Betzler
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 9 | September 2022 | Pages 1433-1452
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2033596
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work presents multiphysics analyses on the bottom components of the Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR) facility. These components include the bottom axial reflector and the steel exit cone. The bottom axial reflector is made of pure silicon carbide elements hosting helium cooling channels. These elements are three-dimensional (3D) printed, and therefore can host any arbitrary shape of the helium cooling channels. The design of the bottom reflector considers the neutronics and thermofluid dynamics performances as well as the manufacturing process optimization. More precisely, the best design of the bottom reflector reduces neutron leakage by avoiding straight cylindrical helium channels that facilitate neutron leakage, minimizes the helium flow pressure drop, and reduces the number of 3D printed silicon carbide pieces. The exit cone steel structure collects the hot helium from the bottom fuel assemblies and channels the cold helium to the top of the fuel assemblies. The steel’s simultaneous contact with hot and cold helium flows sets a large thermal gradient. Different designs of the exit cone are proposed to reduce the steel equivalent stress from the helium thermal load. The multiphysics analyses have been performed using Ansys Fluent, Ansys Mechanical, STAR-CCM+, and Serpent computer programs.