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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Atul A. Karve, Brian R. Moore, Vernon W. Mills, Gary N. Marrotte
Nuclear Technology | Volume 151 | Number 1 | July 2005 | Pages 60-69
Technical Paper | Advances in Nuclear Fuel Management - Core Physics and Fuel Management Methods, Analytical Tools, and Benchmarks | doi.org/10.13182/NT05-A3631
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A recent cycle of a General Electric boiling water reactor performed two beginning-of-cycle local cold criticals. The eigenvalues estimated by the core simulator were 0.99826 and 1.00610. The large spread in them (= 0.00784) is a source of concern, and it is studied here. An analysis process is developed using statistical techniques, where first a transfer function relating the core observable Y (eigenvalue) to various factors (X's) is established. Engineering judgment is used to recognize the best candidates for X's. They are identified as power-weighted assembly k's of selected assemblies around the withdrawn rods. These are a small subset of many X's that could potentially influence Y. However, the intention here is not to do a comprehensive study by accounting for all the X's. Rather, the scope is to demonstrate that the process developed is reasonable and to show its applicability to performing detailed studies. Variability in X's is obtained by perturbing nodal k's since they directly influence the buckling term in the quasi-two-group diffusion equation model of the core simulator. Any perturbations introduced in them are bounded by standard well-established uncertainties. The resulting perturbations in the X's may not necessarily be directly correlated to physical attributes, but they encompass numerous biases and uncertainties credited to input and modeling uncertainties. The "vital few" from the "unimportant many" X's are determined, and then they are subgrouped according to assembly type, location, exposure, and control rod insertion. The goal is to study how the subgroups influence Y in order to have a better understanding of the variability observed in it.