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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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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AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
A. D. Vaughn, R. I. Smith
Nuclear Technology | Volume 14 | Number 2 | May 1972 | Pages 146-152
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT72-A31129
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The plutonium concentrations in mixed-oxide fuel rods containing distinct sizes of particulate plutonium oxide have been determined using high resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. The fuel rod enrichments were in the range 2 to 2.5 wt% in natural UO2. Individual rod enrichments were determined to within ±0.1 wt% by comparison with a known standard. Differences in plutonium iso-topic composition were discemable also, in addition to the differences in plutonium enrichment. The technique provides an inexpensive nondestructive method of determining in situ plutonium composition and content of assembled fuel rods, for purposes of quality assurance and accountability control.
