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
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
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?
Andrew Richard Raymond Telford
Nuclear Technology | Volume 56 | Number 1 | January 1982 | Pages 33-39
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A32878
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tests have been carried out on one of the advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs) at Hinkley Point to determine the fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity, an important safety-related parameter. Reactor neutron flux was measured during transients induced by movement of a bank of control rods from one steady position to another. An inverse kinetics analysis was applied to the recorded flux transient to determine the reactivity change as the fuel temperature changed, and the variation of mean fuel temperature was derived from the flux transient by a multiplane thermal-hydraulics code representing an AGR fuel channel The fuel temperature coefficient was then obtained from the slope of a plot of core reactivity against fuel temperature. The uncertainty to be applied to the derived temperature coefficient has been shown to be approximately ±10% at the one standard deviation level The experimental technique has been found to be simple to apply on a commercial reactor and has given consistent results over a range of reactor operating conditions. Calculations of fuel temperature coefficients of reactivity (based on the lattice code, ARGOSY) have been carried out and reactor averaged values deduced for comparison with experiment. The calculated and measured coefficients agree to within one standard deviation over a range of core irradiations and power levels.
