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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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
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.”
Joachim K. Axmann
Nuclear Technology | Volume 119 | Number 3 | September 1997 | Pages 276-291
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT97-A35403
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The combination of traditional evolution strategies and heuristics from expert knowledge leads to the RELOPAT optimization program. In combination with reactor simulation codes—in this investigation the nodal reactor code PRISM of Siemens/KWU— a powerful program system for the design of a numerically optimized pressurized water reactor (PWR) loading pattern was designed. Furthermore, the technic of parallel computing was introduced successfully. Simple parallel algorithmic structures on the level of optimization algorithms, combined with a low amount of communication between processors, allow workstation clusters to be used efficiently. Highly promising results were obtained by comparing recalculations of different known loading patterns for several PWRs of different sizes and varying constraints with solutions based on human expertise. The economic potential of the improvements now leads to a program that meets industrial requirements.