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Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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General Kenneth Nichols and the Manhattan Project
Nichols
The Oak Ridger has published the latest in a series of articles about General Kenneth D. Nichols, the Manhattan Project, and the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. The series has been produced by Nichols’ grandniece Barbara Rogers Scollin and Oak Ridge (Tenn.) city historian David Ray Smith. Gen. Nichols (1907–2000) was the district engineer for the Manhattan Engineer District during the Manhattan Project.
As Smith and Scollin explain, Nichols “had supervision of the research and development connected with, and the design, construction, and operation of, all plants required to produce plutonium-239 and uranium-235, including the construction of the towns of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Richland, Washington. The responsibility of his position was massive as he oversaw a workforce of both military and civilian personnel of approximately 125,000; his Oak Ridge office became the center of the wartime atomic energy’s activities.”
Shifa Wu, Jiashuang Wan, Hongbing Song, Xinyu Wei, Fuyu Zhao, Shripad Revankar
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 192 | Number 3 | December 2018 | Pages 275-297
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1501976
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A novel concept of implementing the advanced mechanical shim (MSHIM) control system on the improved Chinese Pressurized Water Reactor (CPR1000) is proposed. The reactor power control system of CPR1000 is redesigned to adopt the MSHIM control system while the other parameters and control systems remain unchanged. To investigate the control performance and safety margins of this reconfiguration, the CPR1000 Full-Scope Simulation Platform (CFSSP) is first developed in MATLAB/Simulink with relevant control systems and protection system considered. The CFSSP consists of the one-dimensional nodal core model, the nonequilibrium three-region pressurizer model, the lumped-parameters dynamic model of U-tube steam generator with movable boiling boundary, and the balance of plant model. Based on the CFSSP, operational transients of step and linear turbine load changes were simulated and analyzed. The simulation results agree well with physical laws and the control performance is satisfactory. All key parameters are kept within acceptable ranges with enough safety margins and thus the protection system is not triggered. Therefore, the CPR1000 nuclear power plant implementing the MSHIM control system can safely sustain the ±10% full-power (FP) step changes and ±5% FP/min linear changes of load transients. This study can serve as a reference for the MSHIM control system application to pressurized water reactors.
