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
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Zap Energy hits 37-million-degree electron temperatures in compact fusion device
Zap Energy announced April 23 that it has reached 1-3 keV plasma electron temperatures—roughly the equivalent of 11 to 37 million degrees Celsius—using its sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch approach to fusion. Reaching temperatures above that of the sun’s core (which is 10 million degrees Celsius temperature) is just one hurdle required before any fusion confinement concept can realistically pursue net gain and fusion energy.
K. Yamashina, S. Suzuki, S. Kubota (NUMO)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 741-749
The ongoing update of the safety case for co-disposal of HLW and TRU waste in Japan will include a more extensive assessment of operational safety than has been carried out in the past. The pre-closure safety case aims to assure both radiological and non-radiological protection of the public and workers.
Radiological protection requires radiation shielding and radionuclide containment within the disposal facilities in the event of operational perturbations. Radiation control and facility design are based on guidelines applied for other nuclear facilities. Within radiation-controlled zones, most operations will be remote-handled or will involve appropriate shielding, avoiding any significant dose to workers.
Operational perturbations, such as physical or thermal impacts on the waste-form, are analyzed using an event tree method and possible cost-effective counter-measures identified that would reduce their likelihood or mitigate their impact. Potential vulnerabilities of operational processes have been considered: most of these would pose little risk to the public, but the complexity of recovery operations and risks to workers could be significant. For example, the mechanical robustness of metal overpacks effectively assures no release of radionuclides as a result of credible incidents.