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Division Spotlight
Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
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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July 2025
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Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Kevin Tsai, Austin Fleming, Colby Jensen, Ryan Fronk, Troy Unruh, Eric Larsen, Cody Race (INL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 612-617
Fast-response Self-Powered Neutron Detectors (SPNDs) demonstrated good performance in providing live-time, in-pile neutron flux measurements during transient operations at the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the early 1990s. Two types of emitters for the fast-response SPNDs were tested?hafnium and gadolinium. Both types of SPNDs emitters generate electrical current which can be correlated to neutron flux. Gamma rays emitted from (n, ?) reactions in the emitter eject electrons by Compton scattering, which in turn induces the signal current. Current is also induced within the signal wire, thereby, necessitating a second compensation wire. The currents are subsequently measured using a pair of electrometers to provide time-resolved localized neutron flux measurement. These transient-response SPNDs have been reinserted into TREAT in 2018 to measure neutron flux levels and in-core power response during rapid reactivity insertion transients to support the recent TREAT resumption of operations. The objective of these experiments is to establish the instrumentation capability provided by fast-response SPNDs at INL to support transient irradiations. Testing of the SPNDs included the use of a gadolinium and a hafnium SPND in temperature limited and clipped reactivity insertion transients. The full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of the transient response measured from the SPNDs was compared with the TREAT ex-core neutron detectors as an initial step of analyzing the performance of the SPNDs and accompanying electronics. These SPNDs will be used as a benchmark for the development and fabrication of future SPNDs for deployment in transient irradiation tests.
