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
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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
Oct 2024
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The D&D of SM-1A
With the recent mobilization at the site of the former SM-1A nuclear power plant at Fort Greely, Alaska, the Radiological Health Physics Regional Center of Expertise, located at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Baltimore District, began its work toward the decommissioning and dismantlement of its third nuclear power plant, this time located just 175 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
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.