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Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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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.
Harvey J. Amster, K. Cheuk Chan
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 61 | Number 3 | November 1976 | Pages 388-398
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE76-A26925
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An elementary function for the collision density of neutrons slowing down from a plane source in hydrogen is synthesized through a set of schemes incorporating several known explicit features of the exact solution. First, the Marshak distribution is assigned a distorted lethargy variable that makes its zeroth and second spatial moments exact at all lethargies while automatically preserving its detailed accuracy at large lethargies. The same exact moments are also required of a specific functional form able to assume the correct spatial dependence at small lethargies. Then, a linear combination of these functions is constructed with coefficients making the two moments and the first spatial derivative at the source plane exact at all lethargies. The resulting distribution automatically becomes correct at both lethargy extremes. In addition, a remaining lethargy-dependent parameter makes the fourth spatial moment exact at all lethargies except within a finite interval of intermediate values, where its error must reach a maximum of 2.7%. Extraneous roots from multiple bifurcations of the parameter are identified by their unphysical implications. For computational simplicity, both this parameter and the incorporated function for the exact spatial derivative at the source plane are replaced by fitted elementary functions. The resulting expression for the collision density agrees very closely with McInerney's Monte Carlo calculations. Some extensions are described in a separate Note.