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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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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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.
Jaques Reifman, Thomas Y. C. Wei
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 131 | Number 3 | March 1999 | Pages 348-369
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2039
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The unique capabilities of the first-principles-based PRODIAG diagnostic system to identify unanticipated process component faults and to be ported across different processes/plants through modification of only input data files are demonstrated in two validation tests. The Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant full-scope operator training simulator is used to generate transient data for two plant systems used in the validation tests. The first test consists of a blind test performed with 39 simulated transients of 20 distinct types in the Braidwood chemical and volume control system. Of the 39 transients, 37 are correctly identified with varying precision within the first 40 s into the transient while the remaining two transients are not identified. The second validation test consists of a double-blind test performed with 14 simulated transients in the Braidwood component coolant water system. In addition to having no prior knowledge of the identity of the transients, in the double-blind test we also had no prior information regarding the identity of the component faults that the simulator was capable of modeling. All 14 transient events are correctly identified with varying precision within the first 30 s into the transient. The test results provide enough evidence to successfully confirm the unique capabilities of the plant-level PRODIAG diagnostic system.