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Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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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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.”
Suresh K. Yagnik, Duane P. Johnson, John A. Kervinen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 147 | Number 2 | August 2004 | Pages 291-300
Technical Paper | Materials for Nuclear Systems | doi.org/10.13182/NT04-A3533
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The routine method of monitoring Zircaloy cladding corrosion in nuclear fuel pools is based on eddy current (EC) measurements at a single high frequency in the range of 1-3 MHz. At this frequency the rf wave does not penetrate through the cladding wall and, ideally, the EC response can be correlated to the thickness of the oxide layer that separates the sensor head from the metal substrate. In practice, however, the cladding corrosion is often overestimated by this method due to the primary circuit corrosion products (or crud) that are deposited on the fuel rod surface. In addition, the crud, which is primarily nickel ferrite oxides, may significantly interfere with the EC response due to its ferromagnetic nature. We describe a two-frequency method with four-dimensional vector analyses of the EC response to more precisely assess the cladding corrosion. Two independent approaches for measuring the corrosion damage are suggested in this study. First, the four-dimensional data treatment enables a direct measure of the oxide thickness, even in the presence of ferromagnetic crud. Second, it can also provide a direct measure of the substrate wall thickness, and hence the degree of corrosion, provided the original wall thickness is known. By comparison, the approaches to crud correction currently available prove inadequate, especially if both the thickness and permeability of the crud deposits vary over the fuel rod surface, as is generally the case. The new method has been applied to inactive samples with and without the ferromagnetic crud effect. In the reported laboratory simulations, the oxide thickness and wall thinning were measured independently to within ±4 m, irrespective of unknown crud thickness and permeability.