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
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
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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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Apr 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Charles Forsberg (MIT)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 972-980
The electricity market is changing with decreasing markets for base-load electricity. Changes in nuclear power plants are required to match changes in markets. Nuclear energy produces heat that is then converted to electricity. Heat storage is cheaper than electricity storage (batteries, pumped storage, etc.). There is the option to incorporate heat storage into the power plant design to enable variable electricity output to maximize revenue while operating the reactor at base load to minimize costs.
We examine options for heat storage coupled to reactors with sodium or salt in the secondary heat transfer loop. The three classes of storage technologies are described: bulk hot salt or sodium storage, sensible heat storage (steel or other solid), and latent heat storage with another material.
Heat storage can enable the power plant to operate as a battery or pumped hydro station. At times of low electricity prices there is the option to divert heat from the reactor to heat storage while operating the power turbine at minimum load. Keeping the turbine on line allows rapid return to full electricity output to meet demand during high prices. The low-value electricity from the plant and added low-value electricity from the grid can be used to electrically resistance heat the heat storage media. When electricity prices increase, heat from the reactor and storage goes to the turbine for peak electricity production to maximize revenue.
