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
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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
Mar 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2024
Latest News
Why should safeguards by design be a global effort?
Jeremy Whitlock
I can’t think of a more exciting time to be working in nuclear, with the diversity of advanced reactor development and increasing global support for nuclear in sustainable energy planning. But we can’t lose sight of the need to plan for efficient international safeguards at the same time.
Global nuclear deployment has been underpinned since 1970 by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), making it a key customer requirement for governments to demonstrate unequivocally that the technology is not being misused for weapons development.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has helped verify this commitment for more than 50 years, but it has never safeguarded many of the advanced reactors (and related fuel cycle processes) being developed today.
Thomas Fink (SCHOTT AG), Shi Qi (Chinergy Co., Ltd.), Edward L. Quinn (Technology Resources), James F. Gleason (GLSEQ, LLC)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 787-802
Enhanced glass-to-metal feedthroughs will be used to carry key instrumentation and control (I&C) signals in China’s high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed modular reactor (HTR-PM) at Shidaowan, and in SMR prototyping. Chinergy Co., Ltd and Jiamusi Electric Machine Co., Ltd will use the feedthroughs, also called electrical penetration assemblies (EPAs) at the Shidaowan twin-reactor HTR, which have undergone a specialized manufacturing process to make them far more robust than organic feedthroughs. SCHOTT EPAs are the only feedthrough that can be used in the primary loop of an HTR because organic seals cannot withstand the high temperature and pressures. Glass-to-metal seals are comprised of inorganic, non-aging material which have a virtually unlimited lifespan in high-temperature, high-radiation and high-pressure applications. This I&C technology package is being enhanced by development and testing of new mineral-insulated (MI) cable connectors and EPAs made of crystallizing glass ceramic combined with superalloys. The EPAs have a maintenance-free lifespan of up to 60 years, resulting in no outage time spent on these components and subsequently helps reduce costs associated with shutdown. They are far more robust than organic seals and provide increased safety at a lower lifetime cost. Due to this significant safety performance, the EPAs have also been chosen by BWXT for its mPower SMR. SMR requirements are very challenging but are met by the new components, which will form part of a strong I&C safety chain. Higher specification EPAs and MI cable connectors for equipment have been designed into advanced severe accident I&C instruments including advanced severe accident hydrogen and oxygen sensors that exceed the challenging requirements of both HTR and SMR applications.