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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
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.