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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
Tay-Jian Liu, Chien-Hsiung Lee, Ching-Chuan Yao, Show-Chyuan Chiang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 129 | Number 1 | January 2000 | Pages 36-50
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3044
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The current emergency operating procedures (EOPs) for a three-loop pressurized water reactor on steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) incident are experimentally evaluated at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research Integral System Test Facility. The focus is on the adequacy of EOPs to limit primary-to-secondary leakage with particular emphasis on the number of ruptured U-tubes on the severity of an incident and the response time available for operator actions. By comparing test data with plant records of a Mihama-2 SGTR event, the key thermal-hydraulic phenomena during SGTR transients can be successfully simulated. The test results indicated that the current EOPs can function well in terminating the break flow and maintaining adequate core cooling. However, the effectiveness in minimizing the radioactive release demands an early and substantial operator involvement. To mitigate the consequences of such an event, the timing to isolate the faulted steam generator (SG) and to terminate safety injection flow will be critical. Furthermore, to avoid overfilling, the water level in the faulted SG needs to be drained prior to the implementation of the cooldown process.