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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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.
M. S. Ash, G. Yanow
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 55 | Number 3 | November 1974 | Pages 342-344
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE74-A23460
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In certain atomic physics experiments performed in conjunction with underground nuclear-weapon testing, it is desired that radiation energy converter plates be irradiated so as to reemit a maximum amount of radiation. The plates, composed of thin layers of materials of differing atomic number, are to be designed by choosing the material atomic number for each layer so that the plate, in toto, produces minimum photoelectron kinetic energy. Minimum photoelectron kinetic energy implies maximum energy reradiated, in the context of the radiation energy spectral regime of interest. The optimum choice of layer atomic numbers involves the solution of a novel variational problem where the minimizing function, the atomic numbers, take on integer values only. A comparison is made between the optimally designed plate and the corresponding homogeneous plate in terms of photoelectron kinetic energy produced. The homogeneous plate produces more than two orders of magnitude more photoelectric kinetic energy than does the optimally designed plate.