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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Latest News
NRC engineers share their expertise at the University of Puerto Rico
Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.
Cheol Ho Pyeon, Takahiro Yagi, Kiichi Sukawa, Yoshimasa Yamaguchi, Tsuyoshi Misawa
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 177 | Number 2 | June 2014 | Pages 156-168
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE13-21
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experimental studies on the thorium-loaded accelerator-driven system (ADS) were conducted at the Kyoto University Critical Assembly. Mockup experiments were carried out in both the critical and subcritical states to investigate the influence of different thermal neutron profiles on the thorium capture and fission reactions. Thorium plate irradiation experiments for the thorium capture and fission reactions demonstrate fission reactions in the critical state, and the calculated-to-experiment values of reaction rates show accuracy within a relative difference of ∼30%. In the ADS experiments with an external neutron source (14-MeV neutrons and 100-MeV protons), subcritical experiments were carried out in the thorium-loaded cores to investigate the influence of different thermal neutron profiles on thorium capture reaction rates by the measurement of 115In(n,γ)116mIn reactions. The results reveal the difference between reaction rate distributions attributed to varying not only the neutron spectrum of the core but also the external neutron source. A comparison between the measured and calculated reaction rate distributions reflects the accuracy of reaction-rate analyses for the thorium-loaded ADS experiments with an external neutron source. Additionally, kinetic experiments were carried out to deduce the prompt neutron decay constants and subcriticality by the pulsed neutron method.