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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
January 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Reboot: Nuclear needs a success . . . anywhere
The media have gleefully resurrected the language of a past nuclear renaissance. Beyond the hype and PR, many people in the nuclear community are taking a more measured view of conditions that could lead to new construction: data center demand, the proliferation of new reactor designs and start-ups, and the sudden ascendance of nuclear energy as the power source everyone wants—or wants to talk about.
Once built, large nuclear reactors can provide clean power for at least 80 years—outlasting 10 to 20 presidential administrations. Smaller reactors can provide heat and power outputs tailored to an end user’s needs. With all the new attention, are we any closer to getting past persistent supply chain and workforce issues and building these new plants? And what will the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president mean for nuclear?
As usual, there are more questions than answers, and most come down to money. Several developers are engaging with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or have already applied for a license, certification, or permit. But designs without paying customers won’t get built. So where are the customers, and what will it take for them to commit?
L. F. Miller, R. G. Cochran, J. W. Howze
Nuclear Technology | Volume 36 | Number 1 | November 1977 | Pages 93-105
Radiation Environments in Nuclear Reactor Power Plant | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT77-A31963
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The problem of designing a constrained feedback control system for a nuclear reactor is investigated. The constraint imposed is that system stability must be retained under possible loss of any arbitrary feedback signal due to failure of the signal sensor. In addition, the control law is synthesized using only partial state availability, and the nominal control system without sensor failure is designed so that the system performs in a desired fashion. Several mathematical models of the reactor dynamics were employed. However, only a model with negative moderator activity coefficients and a single delayed neutron group was used as an example. This model permits a demonstration of two different computational methods for obtaining the required feedback control laws. The first of these two computational methods uses a global procedure for solving polynomial inequalities that represent the stabilization problem. The second method used an algorithm for decreasing a spectral radius function until it is negative, thus allowing implicit control over eigenvalue placement.