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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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!
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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
Jianwei Zhang, Tuo Li, Bo Tian, Jinfeng Li, Wenze Li, Abdullah, Nan Zhang, Hongtao Zhao
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 3 | March 2025 | Pages 624-634
Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2343116
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Adsorption is widely regarded as the most promising method for uranium extraction. Among the various materials that have been studied, graphene oxide (GO) has attracted intensive interest because of its large specific surface area and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. However, the layers tend to aggregate owing to pronounced Van der Waals forces, which reduce the surface area and diminish the likelihood of contact between uranyl ions and adsorption sites. Graphite oxide is an intermediate product of GO, with a simple preparation process and low cost. In this study, graphite oxide nanosheets (GONs) were synthesized using graphite oxide powder as the raw material and the NaOH activation method. GONs possessed a larger specific surface area and more carboxyl groups, which resulted in an excellent uranium adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 578.0 mg·g−1, and the adsorption rate was 90.8% within 30 min. The adsorption process closely resembled the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir model. The mechanism of uranium adsorption by GONs was the synergistic coordination of -COOH and -OH with U(VI). This research suggests that the novel uranium adsorbent GONs can be applied to efficiently capture U(VI) from radioactive wastewater.
