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Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Yuri Orechwa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 170 | Number 3 | June 2010 | Pages 383-396
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-A10325
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Traditionally, the safety of a nuclear reactor system has been assessed through a set of mechanistic calculations of bounding accident sequences using conservative models. Extensive experience in the operation and analysis of nuclear reactor systems has led to two complementary approaches: best-estimate mechanistic calculations with a quantitative estimate of the uncertainty for assessing conformance with acceptance criteria based on technical limits and probabilistic risk analysis of the event sequences due to the probability of failure of safety systems. Both assess the safety of the reactor system; however, the emphasis, especially in the estimation of probabilities, is different in the two approaches. Yet both address the same concern: the safety of the reactor system. We discuss the formal relations that are necessary for a risk-consistent analysis of the safety of the nuclear reactor systems with respect to the two current approaches.