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
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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!
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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.
A. Radkowsky, A. Dayan, A. Y. Temkin, L. Green
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 75 | Number 3 | September 1980 | Pages 265-274
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE80-A19058
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The optimum 235U enrichment of the uranium fuel for a once-through cycle for pressurized water reactors (PWRs) is ∼20%. Such an enrichment leads to a core design having the following major advantages in safety, economy, and uranium utilization over present standard designs. 1. There is a reduction in core volume by about a factor of 2, resulting in important savings in costs of core and pressure vessel. 2. Safety will be enhanced as a result of utilization of metallic fuel elements with much greater strength and a factor of 10 better heat conduction and less stored energy than standard ceramic fuel elements. The maximum temperature is 700°F below melting, as compared with 300°F for ceramic fuel. 3. Plutonium discharge is reduced by about a factor of 7. 4. Need for a soluble neutron-absorber control is eliminated. 5. While a detailed core design was beyond the scope of this work, a relatively simple fuel management scheme appears to be feasible which would reduce initial uranium ore requirements by ∼50% of that of standard PWRs and separative work by ∼35% reduce annual usage of uranium ore by ∼15% with a slight increase in separative work.