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Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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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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?
Mark T. Leonard
Nuclear Technology | Volume 62 | Number 1 | July 1983 | Pages 31-42
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33229
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Upper head injection (UHI) is an emergency core coolant (ECC) system design that injects subcooled water into the upper head of the reactor vessel in a pressurized water reactor. An analysis has been performed that investigates the effects of UHI on small-break transient behavior. The analysis consists of several RELAP5/MOD1 computer code calculations, which have been compared to experimental data from a series of small break loss-of-coolant accident simulations, performed in the Semiscale Mod-2A system. Small-break transient phenomena were calculated not to be significantly affected by the introduction of subcooled liquid into the vessel upper head. Nonequilibrium effects were minimal and limited to the period of ECC injection. The analysis covered a range of small-break sizes, and the severity of the transients (in terms of minimum core coolant level) was calculated to be a maximum (with or without UHI) for a cold leg break size of ∼5.0% of the cold flow area. For all break sizes, UHI was calculated to increase the margin against core uncovery. The calculated hydraulic phenomena and specific fluid conditions were generally in good agreement with data. The calculated relative magnitudes of important phenomena were preserved over the break size spectrum.