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Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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
Yichen Zhao, Haori Yang, Sivanandan S. Harilal
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 5 | May 2025 | Pages 1044-1055
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2370193
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We report the development of a novel fiberoptic laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (FOLIBS) system for material characterization applications. The system utilizes a 1000-µm optical fiber to transport the laser beam to remote locations for elemental analysis via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Air-fiber interface damage, internal damage, and air breakdown issues during laser-fiber coupling are identified and corresponding solutions are presented. For evaluating the physical properties of the plasma generated by the FOLIBS system, spectroscopic characterization is carried out using a titanium sample. The spectral features collected from a natural uranium sample are also presented. Hence, this rapid, remote, and flexible measurement technique is promising for in situ measurements in hazardous environments in nuclear energy, nuclear safeguards, and nonproliferation applications.
