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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Spent fuel transfer project completed at INL
Work crews at Idaho National Laboratory have transferred 40 spent nuclear fuel canisters into long-term storage vaults, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has reported.
James M. Griffith
Nuclear Technology | Volume 56 | Number 3 | March 1982 | Pages 447-453
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A32903
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The operation of a pressurized water reactor requires an estimate of average core power. If there is uncertainty in the power estimate, the plant must be operated at a reduced power level to ensure that safety-related indexes are not exceeded. Thus, power estimate uncertainty results in decreased energy production. A Kalman filter has been designed to combine information from several sources and thereby reduce power estimation errors. The investigation provides three primary results. First, clearly defined instrument-error models are specified and the need for these models becomes clear. Second, the investigation shows that the sensitivity to unexpected errors can be reduced by utilizing information from more than one source. Third, calculations for a hypothetical 1000-MW(electric) power plant that sells electrical energy for $0.06/kWh show that an additional annual revenue of approximately $1 million can be realized by applying the Kalman filter. A few calculations are the only investment needed to obtain the additional revenue.