ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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
Virginia utility considers SMRs
Dominion Energy Virginia has issued a request for proposals from leading nuclear companies to study the feasibility of putting a small modular reactor at its North Anna nuclear power plant.
While the utility says it is not a commitment to build an SMR at the site, the RFP is “an important first step in evaluating the technology and the North Anna site to support Dominion Energy customers’ future energy needs consistent with the company’s most recent Integrated Resource Plan.”
Man-Sung Yim, John M. Christenson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 100 | Number 3 | December 1992 | Pages 361-377
Technical Paper | Reactor Operation | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34731
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The control characteristics of a load-following pressurized water reactor are investigated through the application of a nonlinear optimization method to a simplified plant simulator. A model describing the power level control and power distribution control is developed and used to formulate an optimal control problem. In the optimal control problem formulation, all of the safety and system operating limits are included as hard constraints, and the multiple objective functionals are combined into a single performance index. The differences in the calculated optimal load-following control strategies are investigated for the cases of steady-state Tavg (coolant average temperature) program operation and variable Tavg operation at both beginning-of-cycle and near end-of-cycle conditions. The results show that the amount of boron control action for the demanded load variations can be significantly reduced when variable Tavg operation is incorporated into the control policy.