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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.
J. K. Dickens
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 109 | Number 1 | September 1991 | Pages 92-102
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE91-A23847
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recently obtained experimental total beta-ray spectra for 77 radionuclides created during fission of 235U are compared with predicted total beta-ray spectra based on beta-ray transition energies and intensities of individual components currently available in the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF). In addition, experimental average beta-ray energies <Eβ> for 100 radionuclides are compared with evaluated/theoretical <Eβ> from four compilations, namely, (a) a 1982 compilation, (b) the 1989 and current ENSDF, (c) a 1988 compilation by the Japanese Nuclear Data Committee, and (d) predictions using the microscopic theory of Klapdor and Metzinger. None of these evaluations/ predictions is superior in reproducing the experimental data. A comparison of the experimental <Eβ> with the total available beta decay energies Qβ indicates that the approximation <Eβ> ≈ Qβ/3 somewhat overestimates <Eβ> on the average; however, the ratio R = <Eβ>/Qβ varies between 0.11 and 0.46, and there is no discernible trend in R compared with Qβ or <Eβ> nor a discernible difference for radionuclides having T1/2 ≤ 2 s compared with those having T1/2 > 2 s. Lastly, the intensities of possible ground-state decay transitions were estimated for 47 radionuclides and compared with similar data in ENSDF. In 14 cases, a nonzero ENSDF value is supported by the experimental data, and in 8 cases a zero value in ENSDF is supported by the lack of experimental data suggesting a high-energy ground state beta-ray transition. Of the remaining 25 radionuclides, the experimental data for 9 cases suggest that increases are needed in the ENSDF, and for 16 radionuclides the data indicate the need for smaller values of the ground-state transition intensities from those given in the ENSDF, being zero for 4 nuclides (80,81Ga, 84As, and 145Cs).
