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
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
January 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Article considers incorporation of AI into nuclear power plant operations
The potential application of artificial intelligence to the operation of nuclear power plants is explored in an article published in late December in the Washington Examiner. The article, written by energy and environment reporter Callie Patteson, presents the views of a number of experts, including Yavuz Arik, a strategic energy consultant.
B.D. Boyer, J. W. Hartzell,† S. Lider, G. E. Robinson, A. J. Baratta, A. J. Roscioli
Nuclear Technology | Volume 103 | Number 2 | August 1993 | Pages 206-219
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34844
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effects of condensation steam quenching in modeling two-phase flow phenomena during a nuclear reactor transient are studied. The RETRAN-02-MOD002 code, with three field equations and a nonequilibrium pressurizer model option, and the TRAC-BF1 code, with six field equations, predicted plant response to a boiling water reactor plant test of a main steam isolation valve closure without safety relief valve opening. The basic RETRAN-02-MOD002 field equations cannot model steam quenching by condensation. However, by activating the nonequilibrium modeling option of the basic RETRAN-02-MOD002 code and by inputting appropriate interfacial heat transfer coefficients, steam quenching by condensation was calculated. This approach gave results closer to those obtained with the test data. The two TRAC-BFI models used two different methods of tracking water level to approximate the condensation quenching effect. Because the void fraction changes too gradually, the calculation without the TRAC two-phase water level tracking option overquenched the pressure and filled the vessel with too much water. However, because the void fraction changes virtually instantaneously (as it does in the plant), the TRAC two-phase water level tracking option’s prediction of the quenching of the pressure was 50% closer to the data than was any RETRAN-02-MOD002 calculation, and it followed the water level almost as well as the RETRAN-02-MOD002 best-estimate case. Both codes overpredicted the pressure spike.