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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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
AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
Charles W. Forsberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 76 | Number 1 | January 1987 | Pages 185-192
Technical Note | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33909
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Current boiling water reactors (BWRs) use active safety systems comprised of pumps, valves, motors, and diesel generators. These active safety systems (a) are a major cause of controversy in licensing power reactors because of reliability questions, (b) have high capital costs, and (c) require constant maintenance. An advanced BWR concept with passive emergency core cooling systems (PECOS) offers a basic alternative approach to reactor safety. In the PECOS-BWR, passive emergency core cooling is provided for the first 24 h by gravity flow of stored water released through fluidic valves that have no moving parts. Natural-draft air cooling removes heat from the core for longer periods.
