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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.
R. Gerling, F. P. Schimansky, R. Wagner
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 110 | Number 4 | April 1992 | Pages 374-385
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE92-A23911
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
During thermal annealing, amorphous Fe40Ni40P20 becomes brittle via a two-step process at 220 and 300°C. The first step results from a loss of excess free volume. This embrittlement is reversible: During subsequent neutron irradiation, a swelling of the alloy is observed, which corresponds to an increase in excess volume and a complete restoration of the ductility. Small-angle neutron scattering reveals that the second step of embrittlement, during which the specimen remains fully amorphous, is induced by phase separation into regions enriched and depleted in phosphorus. If amorphous Fe40Ni40P20 is exposed to neutron irradiation prior to the heat treatment, a similar phase separation into amorphous phosphorus-enriched and phosphorus-depleted regions occurs. While the radius of the phosphorus-rich regions is about the same regardless of whether or not the specimen has been irradiated, the onset of phase separation occurs at lower temperatures for preirradiated samples; under identical annealing conditions, the volume fraction of phosphorus-rich clusters is much larger in preirradiated FeNiP than in unirradiated material. The faster phase separation kinetics are a consequence of the irradiation-induced excess volume that allows for an increased mobility of individual atoms.