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
Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
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.
Earl J. Schulz, John C. Lee
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 73 | Number 2 | February 1980 | Pages 140-152
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE80-A18694
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Time-optimal control of axial xenon oscillations in pressurized water reactors is investigated in the present study, properly accounting for operating constraints on the allowable axial offset (AO) band. The system equation describing the spatial xenon oscillations has been reformulated using a lambda mode expansion in a form that readily allows a physical interpretation of the state vector and the system equation. In particular, AO measurements can be used to define the entire system parameters completely. Previous optimal control studies have been limited to the case of controls to the origin in the xenon-iodine phase plane. Our present investigation indicates that time-optimal controls should, in general, involve bang-bang controls to a line segment in this phase plane, subject to a band constraint on allowable AO or available control strength. A suboptimal control strategy, which can be applied directly in actual operating conditions without the aid of on-line computers, is also proposed. Verification of the proposed time-optimal control strategies is performed through computer simulations of xenon-induced transients.