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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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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Survey says . . . Emotional intelligence important in nuclear industry
The American Nuclear Society’s Diversity and Inclusion in ANS (DIA) Committee hosted a workshop social at the 2024 Winter Conference & Expo in November that brought dozens of attendees together for an engaging—and educational—twist on the game show Family Feud.
Hugues W. Bonin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 76 | Number 3 | March 1987 | Pages 390-399
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33924
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The optimization problem of the in-core fuel management of a thorium-fueled CANDU pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) consists of several component actions: the number of fresh fuel bundles inserted in the channels, the choice of the channels to be refueled next, the refueling rate, and the composition of the fresh fuel bundles (the latter relevant to advanced fuel cycles). Several fresh fuel compositions of 232Th and 233U were investigated and compared to the self-sufficient equilibrium thorium (SSET) cycle fuel, in terms of the objective function of an optimal fuel management problem. This optimization problem consisted of minimizing the total refueling rate at equilibrium with respect to criticality and power peaking constraints. The maximum acceptable value of the form factor was equal to 1.20, the form factor defined as the maximum-to-average power density ratio in the reactor core. The reactor core was divided into two refueling zones, each characterized by a uniform refueling rate for its channels. The control variables of the optimization problem were the average fluences (irradiations) of the bundles discharged from the channels of each of the zones, these variables being directly related to the refueling rates. A computer code, ASTERIX, was written to solve the optimization problem, using a steepest descent method, which required only a moderate number of diffusion calculations. Simulation was performed on simple models of a 600-MW CANDU PHWR. Because of the presence of 233Pa in the fuel, the diffusion calculations are nonlinear, needing a more complex solution technique. The cell parameters used were calculated by the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited code LATREP for a two energy-group model. This optimization technique gave optimal results that represent substantial savings in the refueling rates (up to 14%) when compared to nonoptimal feasible cases. The comparison of the various fuel compositions studied revealed that the sensitivity of the refueling rate (and the burnup) to the fresh fuel content is quite large for the SSET fuel and the low enrichment fuels.
