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
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2024
Nuclear Technology
August 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
J. A. B. Carvalho, P. F. Frutuoso e Melo, C. M. F. Lapa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 10 | October 2022 | Pages 1562-1576
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2050041
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Although the primary responsibility for safety is assigned to the operator of a nuclear installation, the regulatory body must ensure that the level of safety is adequate. The role of a regulator is to develop safety requirements, to monitor their implementation, and if necessary, to perform enforcement actions. This is done through the implementation of core and supporting functions; therefore, it is very important to monitor their effectiveness in a manner to proactively monitor nuclear safety. This work proposes a method using expert elicitation to develop a set of indicators to determine the effectiveness of the regulatory core functions (strategic indicators) that will compose a Regulatory Management Index (RMI). The supporting areas, which can have a direct impact on the core functions, were also considered as an indicator (cross-cutting indicators), but in contrast to the traditional indicator systems, they were not considered just as another indicator to be aggregated. The method introduces the use of a penalty factor on which a performance of a cross-cutting indicator below an acceptable range is used to penalize the related strategic indicator. Expert opinion is also used to weigh the relative importance between the indicators and to establish performance criteria for them. A case study was implemented to check the method’s feasibility.