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Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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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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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.”
Jeffrey R. Secker, Baard J. Johansen, David L. Stucker, Odelli Ozer, Kostadin Ivanov, Serkan Yilmaz, E. H. Young
Nuclear Technology | Volume 151 | Number 2 | August 2005 | Pages 109-119
Technical Paper | Advances in Nuclear Fuel Management - Increased Enrichment/High Burnup and Light Water Reactor Fuel Cycle Optimization | doi.org/10.13182/NT05-A3636
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper discusses the results of a pressurized water reactor fuel management study determining the optimum discharge burnup and cycle length. A comprehensive study was performed considering 12-, 18-, and 24-month fuel cycles over a wide range of discharge burnups. A neutronic study was performed followed by an economic evaluation. The first phase of the study limited the fuel enrichments used in the study to <5 wt% 235U consistent with constraints today. The second phase extended the range of discharge burnups for 18-month cycles by using fuel enriched in excess of 5 wt%. The neutronic study used state-of-the-art reactor physics methods to accurately determine enrichment requirements. Energy requirements were consistent with today's high capacity factors (>98%) and short (15-day) refueling outages. The economic evaluation method considers various component costs including uranium, conversion, enrichment, fabrication and spent-fuel storage costs as well as the effect of discounting of the revenue stream. The resulting fuel cycle costs as a function of cycle length and discharge burnup are presented and discussed. Fuel costs decline with increasing discharge burnup for all cycle lengths up to the maximum discharge burnup considered. The choice of optimum cycle length depends on assumptions for outage costs.