ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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
May 2025
Jan 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Songling Liu, Huai-En Hsieh, Shiqi Wang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 2 | February 2025 | Pages 200-213
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2323240
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In-vessel retention through external reactor vessel cooling (IVR-ERVC) is a strategy used to respond to nuclear reactor accidents. One of the key performance indicators determining its feasibility is critical heat flux (CHF). Our focus is on simulating real-world scenarios through surface pool boiling to improve the implementation of the IVR-ERVC strategy with hybrid nanofluids. Two groups of TiO2/COOH-CNTs hybrid nanofluids were prepared: group 1 with different concentrations at the same proportion and group 2 with different proportions at the same total concentration.
Researchers compared the improvement of the two groups’ CHF and heat transfer coefficient (HTC), and analyzed the potential mechanism of heat transfer enhancement through roughness of surface, hydrophilicity, and scanning electron microscopy observations. The results showed that a mass concentration of 8 mg:8 mg per liter exhibited the best heat transfer performance, with a CHF enhancement up to 28.21% and an improvement in HTC as well. Meanwhile, correlations between alterations in surface roughness, hydrophilicity, and enhancements in CHF were observed. Finally, by detecting the deposition surface, the possible mechanism of TiO2/COOH-CNTs hybrid nanofluids in enhancing heat transfer was inferred.
