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
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
May 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
A. Serikov, U. Fischer, R. Heidinger, K. Kleefeldt, L. Obholz, P. Spaeh, D. Strauss, H. Tsige-Tamirat
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 2 | November 2009 | Pages 411-416
Shielding | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 2) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9218
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Comprehensive neutronic analyses are being performed for different variants of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) electron cyclotron resonance heating upper launcher under development in the European Union making use of modern computation tools such as the McCad code for geometry conversion and the rigorous two-step (R2S) interface for rigorous shutdown dose rate calculation. There were many reasons for the challenges encountered during the shielding analyses: deep-penetrated radiation transport in the complex geometry of the launcher, frequent need to introduce changes in the three-dimensional MCNP model, and necessity to meet a broad range of nuclear sufficiency requirements specified for ITER. The challenges were successfully addressed and resulted in radiation shielding and nuclear safety support for the current version of the launcher design, which should be workable in ITER. During the process of the launcher design development, a comprehensive knowledge of neutronic characteristics has been gained, and computation methods were matured accordingly.
