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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Latest News
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Thomas D. Radcliff, Shu-Pei Liu, Don W. Miller
Nuclear Technology | Volume 140 | Number 2 | November 2002 | Pages 209-221
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3334
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A controlled-calorimetric in-core instrument that can directly measure nuclear energy deposition has been developed and tested. This instrument works by heating an element of reactor fuel to a constant temperature with an electric heater, such that input electrical power is inversely related to the deposited nuclear power. Tests on first-generation sensor prototypes and subsequent modeling showed three problems: lack of proportionality in the relative neutron and photon response, a relatively low bandwidth, and drift. A model of the sensor has been developed and used to optimize the design of second-generation prototypes with respect to these three problems. Study of the predicted relative neutron and gamma response showed that a nonuniform distribution of nuclear and electrical energy deposition caused the temperature distribution within the sensor to change as the ratio of the energy components varies. This affects sensor power proportionality and increases response time. Heat transfer through the sensor power leads was demonstrated to cause most of the observed drift. The proposed second-generation sensor design forces almost all of the temperature gradient into a thin metal axial region, which gives uniform energy distribution from all sources and better control of thermal leakage and contact resistances. This results in a prediction of increased bandwidth with improved proportionality.