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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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
Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
Kyung Mo Kim, Yeong Shin Jeong, In Guk Kim, In Cheol Bang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 196 | Number 3 | December 2016 | Pages 598-613
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT16-32
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The importance of passive safety for commercial nuclear power plants has been emphasized after the nuclear accidents that occurred at Three Mile Island and Fukushima. A combination of unexpected human errors, severe natural disasters, and defects of system designs led to the accidents, thereby highlighting the vulnerability of established safety systems of commercial nuclear power plants. Various passive safety systems are under development to mitigate design-basis accidents. However, several uncertainties and problems have been pointed out. As a solution to the problems, this paper proposes various designs for a passive in-core cooling system (PINCs) based on hybrid heat pipes. The feasibility and coolability of the PINCs as a passive safety system for commercial pressurized water reactors was investigated using experimental works and numerical analyses. The PINCs showed sufficient coolability to mitigate station blackout conditions by delaying core uncovery. Additionally, several PINCs concepts for advanced nuclear power plants such as a small modular reactor and Generation IV reactors are suggested.