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
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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
Aug 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2024
Latest News
New laws offer nuclear industry incentives for existing power plant uprates
This year, the U.S. nuclear industry received a much-needed economic boost that could help preserve operating nuclear power plants and incentivize upgrades that extend their lifespan and power output.
Signed into law in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act offers production tax credits (PTCs) for existing nuclear power plants and either PTCs or investment tax credits (ITCs) for new carbon-free generation. These credits could make power uprates—increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial plant may operate—a much more appealing option for utilities.
E. R. Sanford, H. J. Litre
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 4 | Number 6 | December 1958 | Pages 713-726
doi.org/10.13182/NSE58-A15494
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An experiment was conducted in a critical assembly to determine water channel power peaking in a heterogeneous, highly enriched, water-moderated reactor subassembly. In addition to horizontal profiles of power density in a plane below a bank of control rods, data were obtained on the interacting effects of the control rod channel and bottom reflector power peaks. Experimental techniques are discussed. A computation for a comparable multiregion cell was made using a few-group diffusion theory digital computer code. Comparison of the results showed that variations in fast neutron spectrum and in manner of homogenization of materials within cell regions had no appreciable effects upon the power density peak. The choice of thermal neutron spectrum is important. Agreement between all experimental values and calculations with a Maxwellian spectrum was excellent. The comparison between experiment and calculations with a hardened thermal neutron spectrum was relatively poor. The results of this investigation indicate that great care must be exercised in interpreting experimental data on power distribution, and that two-dimensional diffusion theory calculations of power density are substantially verified. The use of U235 monitor foils is recommended in order to obtain a true fission power distribution. It was found that variations in the water gap width of the order of 10% had negligible effect upon the horizontal peak-to-average power ratio in the fuel. The use of metallic control rod extensions was found to decrease the horizontal peak-to-average ratio substantially, the magnitude of the decrease verifying analytical predictions.