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
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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
From South Korea to Belgium: Testing a high-density research reactor fuel
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has developed a high-density uranium silicide fuel designed to replace high-enriched uranium in research reactors. Recent irradiation tests appear to be successful, KAERI reports, which means the fuel could be commercialized to continue a key global nuclear nonproliferation effort—converting research reactors to run on low-enriched uranium fuel.
John O’Hara (BNL), Stephen Fleger (NRC)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1778-1784
Design validation is an integral aspect of the systems engineering process and safety reviews. In the nuclear industry, integrated system validation (ISV) is the primary means of validating the human factors aspects of new and modified plant designs. However, challenges posed by ISV have led to interest in alternative approaches to validation. One alternative is multi-stage validation (MSV), which involves conducting validations at multiple points throughout the design process. The objective of this research was to define MSV and to identify its potential benefits, methodology, and technical issues and challenges. To address this objective, we reviewed standards and guidelines, case studies of design validation using MSV approaches, and technical literature discussing MSV methodology. From this technical basis we developed a characterization of MSV. The general goal of validation is to provide evidence that a design or design-related activity achieves its intended purpose. MSV approaches to validation achieve this goal by linking validation activities to design stages resulting in incremental, successive validation activities beginning in the early stages of the design process and continuing through the late stages of the design process. The main elements of an MSV program are: Determining the scope of MSV, identifying stages, developing MSV methodology, integrating MSV results across validation tests, and formulating validation conclusions. MSV has many challenges and benefits when compared with ISV alone. Further development of MSV methodology will help minimize MSV’s challenges and provide designers and regulators with guidance needed to implement and review MSV programs.