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
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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.
John A. Bernard, David D. Lanning
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 110 | Number 4 | April 1992 | Pages 425-444
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE92-A23916
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Factors relevant to the design and implementation of digital controllers for research reactors are discussed with emphasis on the rationale for incorporating a system model in the control law. For this purpose, proportional-integral-derivative and period-generated control are compared. The latter is a model-based technique that achieves excellent trajectory tracking of nonlinear systems. It does this by combining feedback and feedforward control action in a manner that cancels the effects of the system’s dynamics on the controller’s performance. Model-based control is also superior in that it permits replication of some of the functions that humans perform when exercising control. In particular, models can be used to predict expected plant response and thereby facilitate diagnosis. The importance of validated signals, supervisory algorithms, properly designed man-machine interfaces, and automated diagnostics are discussed in relation to control law implementation. In addition, a summary is provided of reactor dynamics as related to control, and arguments are presented in support of using the rate of change of reactivity as the actuator signal. Experimental results obtained from trials of digital controllers on both the 5-MW(thermal) Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor and the Annular Core Research Reactor that is operated by Sandia National Laboratories are included.