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2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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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.
E. C. Kovacic, Paul R. Huebotter, John E. Gates
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 13 | Number 4 | August 1962 | Pages 378-384
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE62-A26180
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Two in-pile capsule experiments have been performed to study the behavior during irradiation of a “paste” of fissionable particles settled at maximum density in a liquid-metal medium. The paste consisted of 150-µ nominal diameter, spherical particles of U-10 wt % Mo alloy in NaK and was irradiated to burnups of 0.0055 and 0.061 total at % in the Battelle Research Reactor. The irradiation capsule consisted essentially of a tube divided into two compartments by an orifice plate. The inside diameter of twin orifice tubes, projecting in either direction from the orifice plate, was such that the paste could flow by gravity from one compartment to the other. An underwater device to measure the gamma-ray emission from the irradiated fuel was used to check the mobility of the paste between increments of irradiation. The paste in the first experiment failed to flow after the first increment of irradiation, and examination of the capsule and particles failed to provide an explanation. The second experiment, performed after some refinements in procedure, was more successful. The mobility of the paste was demonstrated up to a burnup of 0.031 total at %, after which the flow became very sluggish even when assisted by vibration. Examination of the paste indicated that a buildup of oxide contamination in the capsule probably caused the sluggishness of the paste. There was no evidence in either experiment of particle agglomeration by a sintering or fission welding mechanism.