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
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Yuh-Ming Ferng, Shau-Shei Ma
Nuclear Technology | Volume 116 | Number 2 | November 1996 | Pages 160-172
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35297
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Because several abnormal incidents involving the loss of the residual heat removal (RHR) system during refueling and maintenance outages have occurred in pressurized water reactors, the importance of investigating the physical phenomena with respect to these events has been recognized. RHR cooling is a major means to remove core decay heat after a reactor power plant shutdown. If the RHR system is lost and an alternate means for heat removal cannot be established in time, the core will boil off, and the primary system will be pressurized, which potentially results in uncovering of the fuel rods and failure of the temporary boundaries. The objective of this paper is to simulate the Maanshan nuclear power plant (MNPP) responses to the loss of the RHR system during midloop operation under variable outage conditions. Without gravity feed, the current investigation concentrates on the effects of different liquid levels, the existence of vents, and the number of active steam generators. Based on the simulated results, the total heat removal capability of one active steam generator and the pressurizer venting process is sufficient to remove core decay heat of 11.1 MW, which corresponds to the power level 3 days after plant shutdown, in the event that RHR cooling fails during midloop operation. The primary system will be stabilized, and the pressure throughout the transient will not exceed the design pressure of the nozzle dams or the temporary seals. The heat removal capability of the pressurizer vent plays a crucial role in system pressurization during loss of RHR and in the severity of this event, as shown by the calculated results of the open and closed MNPP, respectively. If only one or two active steam generators serve as an alternate cooling means, the increased pressure will exceed the design criteria of the temporary low-pressure boundaries. Then, for the closed conditions of MNPP, the loss-of-RHR event during midloop operation has the potential to induce another loss-of-coolant accident and to cause more serious consequences.
