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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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.
Man Gyun Na
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 138 | Number 3 | July 2001 | Pages 305-314
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE01-A2216
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A receding horizon control method is applied to the axial power distribution control in a pressurized water reactor. The basic concept of receding horizon control is to solve on-line, at each sampling instant, an optimization problem for a finite future and to implement the first optimal control input as the current control input. Thus, it is a suitable control strategy for time-varying systems. The reactor model used for computer simulations is a two-point xenon oscillation model based on the nonlinear xenon and iodine balance equations and a one-group, one-dimensional, neutron diffusion equation with nonlinear power reactivity feedback that adequately describes axial oscillations and treats the nonlinearities explicitly. The reactor core is axially divided into two regions, and each region has one input and one output and is coupled with the other region. Through numerical simulations, it is shown that the proposed control algorithm exhibits very fast tracking responses due to the step and ramp changes of axial target shape and also works well in a time-varying parameter condition.