ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Framatome signs contracts with Sizewell C
French nuclear developer Framatome is slated to deliver key equipment for Sizewell C Ltd.’s two large reactors planned for the United Kingdom’s Suffolk coast.
The agreement, reportedly worth multiple billions of euros, was announced this week and will involve Framatome from the design phase until commissioning. The company also agreed to a long-term fuel supply deal. Framatome is 80.5 percent owned by France’s EDF and 19.5 percent owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Siying Dong, Wei Liu, Yang Liu, Jianqiang Shan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 1 | January-February 2019 | Pages 352-363
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1491182
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In most subchannel analysis codes, spacer grids are simulated using an effective loss coefficient that can account only for the spacer grid’s mean axial effect on the pressure drop. Since the mixing vane spacer grid (MVG) in a rod bundle has great influence on local flow fields, neglecting the effect of mixing vanes will degrade fidelity and resolution in thermal-hydraulic calculation. This paper focuses on improving the spacer grid model in subchannel analysis. First, cross-flow mixing effects of MVGs are accounted for by applying the distributed resistance method. By choosing resistance correlation appropriately and considering the geometric dimensions of mixing vanes, the source term of mixing vanes can be represented quantitatively in the axial and lateral momentum equations of a subchannel analysis code. Second, the Carlucci model is used to calculate mixing rates, and obstruction factor Fobs is introduced to consider turbulent mixing effects caused by spacer grids. The improved MVG cross-flow model and turbulent mixing model are implemented in the subchannel code ATHAS. Validation is provided for the 5 × 5 rod bundle experiments provided by Karoutas et al. [Proc. 7th Int. Mtg. Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics (NURETH-7), Saratoga, New York (1995)] and high-quality experimental data provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Pressurized Water Reactor Subchannel and Bundle Test (PSBT) benchmark to demonstrate their effects and accuracy. From the validation, it can be concluded that the calculated lateral velocities agree well with those provided by the experimental data. In addition, the improved cross-flow and turbulent mixing models significantly increase the accuracy of predictions of exit subchannel coolant temperatures, with reduction in root-mean-square error to be 2.27 K.