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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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!
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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.
Kanji Tasaka
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 62 | Number 1 | January 1977 | Pages 167-174
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE77-A26948
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron capture effects on the decay power of fission products have been examined by varying the fissile nuclide, neutron spectrum, neutron flux, and irradiation and cooling times. Neutron capture transformations of fission products usually increase the decay power. However, at short cooling times, i.e., <C104 s, the capture effects are small, especially in a thermal reactor, where the negative contribution of135Xe offsets the positive contributions of other nuclides. The capture effect exhibits peaks at cooling times of 106 and 108 s and becomes negligible at 109 s. The former peak results mainly from the increases in the activities of103Ru, 134Cs, 136 Cs, 148Pm, 148Pm, and 156Eu, and the latter by activities of 134 Cs and 154Eu. The capture effect increases with increase of the flux level or irradiation time, and it is approximately proportional to the integrated flux at long cooling times. There is only a slight difference between the capture effect of two thermal reactors with epithermal indices of 0.1 and 0.2. In fast reactors, the effect is smaller than in thermal reactors at cooling times over 105 s, and depends only a little on the fissile nuclide. The decay power in fast reactors depends on the cross-section library selected to less than ∼ 1%.