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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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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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.
L. Rolf Peterson, Lynn E. Weaver
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 21 | Number 1 | January 1965 | Pages 40-48
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE65-A21014
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the work previously reported, the solution to the problem of minimizing boiling reactor noise through external control was based on the work of the late Norbert Wiener. There are, however, serious drawbacks in applying Wiener theory. The mathematical sophistication and algebraic complexity greatly increase as more realistic and complex models are assumed for the reactor. Physical intuition is lost among the numerous digital calculations required for complex systems. In this paper a new graphical technique is used to determine an optimum reactor control system that will minimize boiling reactor noise. This technique practically eliminates these serious drawbacks and permits a considerable physical insight into the basic structural properties of optimum control systems to minimize reactor noise. Contrary to previous results, it was found that a reactor control system independent of reactor power level except for a gain constant could be designed that would minimize boiling noise at all power levels. This, in effect, eliminates the need for a complex adaptive control system to account for the dependency of the optimum reactor control system on reactor power level. Simulation studies verified these findings.