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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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
NRC engineers share their expertise at the University of Puerto Rico
Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.
Jin-Hwa Yang, Hwang Bae, Sung-Uk Ryu, Byong Guk Jeon, Sung-Jae Yi, Hyun-Sik Park
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 9 | September 2020 | Pages 1421-1435
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1775450
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Even for small modular reactors (SMRs) with all large pipes removed, a small-break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) is an important design-basis accident (DBA). Experimental simulation of the SBLOCA scenario is essential before a prototype reactor is realized. The system-integrated modular advanced reactor (SMART) is one of the SMRs developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. An integral test loop, SMART-ITL, was also constructed to carry out several types of integral thermal-hydraulic effects tests for the prototype reactor. The SMART-ITL was designed with a preserved height, 1/7th diameter, and 1/49th area, and volume-scaling ratios. Two types of passive safety systems were equipped in the SMART-ITL: a passive safety injection system (PSIS) and a passive residual heat removal system (PRHRS). The PSIS was designed to refill the coolant in the reactor coolant system (RCS) for 72 h after an accident. Under accident conditions the PRHRS prevents overheating and overpressurization of the RCS using two-phase natural circulation. The SBLOCA on the passive safety injection line is a significant DBA that should be validated for differences in break size. In this paper, the effects of two different break sizes, 2 and 7/32 in., were analyzed in order to study the effect of the maximum and minimum mass and energy loss of the RCS. In order to simulate a clear difference between maximum and minimum mass and energy loss of the RCS, heat removal by the PRHRS was performed in the maximum break size (2-in.) accident, and heat removal by the PRHRS was not conducted in the minimum break size (7/32-in.) accident. The difference in mass and energy loss of the RCS will have a significant impact on the operation of the automatic depressurization system. Using the two extreme accident simulations, it was possible to confirm the difference in accident progression caused by the difference in break size and the characteristics of the PSIS.