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Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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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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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.
Antonio Di Buono, Peter R. Green, Barry Lennox (Univ of Manchester), Neil Cockbain (NNL), Xavier Poteau (Sellafield Ltd)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1284-1293
The use of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) is now widespread, with well-documented deployments across a diverse range of sectors including aerospace, agri-science and consumer electronics. In the nuclear industry there have been successful deployments of WSN technologies for instrumentation and control, however, there are significant challenges that need to be addressed before wireless sensing can be used in some nuclear decommissioning extreme environments. This paper presents a concept design for a wireless sensor network capable of delivering wireless remote sensing and control capability through the reinforced concrete structures used in nuclear processing environments. The paper describes the deployment challenges, and how these are being addressed by the design methodology. These challenges include: difficult to reach areas with limited or no power sources; radiation tolerance of sensors and communication systems and delivery of secure and reliable communication in spaces exhibiting highly variable wireless propagation conditions. Following the description of the design methodology, the paper focuses on recent work to characterise the wireless propagation through the reinforced concrete structures found in many decommissioning environments. Preliminary Radio Frequency (RF) propagation measurements undertaken in two buildings on the Sellafield site are presented. The paper demonstrates how analysis of these results enables potential transmission frequencies to be identified and the power budget of the wireless sensor nodes to be modelled.