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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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Optimizing Maintenance Strategies in Power Generation: Embracing Predictive and Preventive Approaches
In the high-stakes world of power generation, ensuring continuous operation and reducing downtime are central priorities. With the increasing complexity of power generation systems, maintenance practices are evolving to meet these demands more efficiently. Understanding the roles of Predictive Maintenance (PdM), Preventive Maintenance (PM), and Reactive Maintenance (Run-to-Failure) is crucial for maintenance professionals in the energy sector to make informed decisions about equipment management and long-term operational strategy.
F. J. Arias
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 178 | Number 2 | October 2014 | Pages 240-249
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE13-88
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The phenomenology for a particular behavior of packed beds in heavy liquid metal (HLM) fast reactors during postaccident heat removal is proposed. Because of the similar densities of the fuel and the HLM, an inherent passive safety self-removal feedback mechanism due to buoyancy forces is developed, which propels the packed bed away from the wall, thus preventing temperatures that can jeopardize the vessel’s structural integrity and also reducing the recriticality potential by limiting the allowable bed depth. This identified mechanism will have somewhat compensatory tendencies in the self-leveling behavior of debris beds, which are crucial for sodium-cooled reactors, but unfortunately, it is not operative for HLMs because of the absence of boiling of the coolant. By means of a simplified geometrical model, a preliminary analysis of the potentiality of the phenomenon has been performed.