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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.
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2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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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.
Yoichi Watanabe, Jacob Appelbaum, Isaac Maya
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 110 | Number 2 | February 1992 | Pages 109-127
Technical Papers | doi.org/10.13182/NSE92-A23881
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The combination of a gaseous core fission reactor with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator can lead to more efficient conversion of fission energy to electricity than can conventional conversion systems. A system concept currently being investigated utilizes uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) as fuel and potassium or potassium fluoride (KF) as the working fluid. The electrical conductivity of the gas greatly influences the performance of the MHD generator. It is possible to enhance the electrical conductivity by taking advantage of fission fragment ions born in the fissile gas-working gas mixture. To study and quantify this effect, a chemical reaction model as well as a physical model are developed. The governing rate equations and an electron energy balance equation are numerically solved for steady-state and spatially homogeneous cases. The electrical conductivity of a UF4-K/KF gaseous mixture is shown to be a function of neutron flux at representative gas conditions (2500 K and 1 atm). The enhancement is achieved because of the rise in electron temperature due to fission fragment heating.