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This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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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.
S. N. Purohit
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 9 | Number 2 | February 1961 | Pages 157-167
doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A15601
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A general formalism for determining the lower time eigenvalues associated with a decaying pulse of neutrons in a finite multiplying as well as nonmultiplying medium has been developed. This formalism is based upon the expansion of each energy eigenfunction by a complete sum of the associated Laguerre polynomials of first order. The eigenvalues are expressed in terms of the energy transfer moments of the scattering kernel of the medium, weighted by the Maxwellian distribution. The importance of the first eigenvalue in the establishment of the final asymptotic energy distribution is discussed. In the case of a nonabsorbing infinite medium, the reciprocal of the first eigenvalue is shown to be equal to the thermalization time constant, with which the Maxwellian velocity distribution of neutrons is attained. The thermalization time constant was estimated for various moderators. For the heavy-gas case, the thermalization time constant was was found to be equal to (1.274 ° ζ∑s0υ0)−1. It is also established in this study that only two polynomials are required to obtain the relation between the thermalization time constant and the diffusion cooling coefficient derived previously from the Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle. The formalism presented in this paper is general and avoids the concept of neutron temperature in defining the thermalization time constant. The decay of a neutron pulse in a nonmultiplying medium is discussed in detail. For the case of multiplying medium, an analysis of an experiment is presented to indicate the importance of the time-dependent nonleakage probability in the expression of the zeroth eigenvalue.