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Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
Jeongwon Seo, Hany Abdel-Khalik, Zoltan Perko
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 12 | December 2020 | Pages 1827-1839
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1721407
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents an algorithm for completing sensitivity analysis that respects linear constraints placed on the associated model’s input parameters. Any sensitivity analysis (linear or nonlinear, local or global) focuses on measuring the impact of input parameter variations on model responses of interest, which may require the analyst to execute the model numerous times with different model parameter perturbations. With the constraints present, the degrees of freedom available for input parameter variations are reduced, and hence any analysis that changes model parameters must respect these constraints. Focusing here on linear constraints, earlier work has shown that constraints may be respected in many ways, causing ambiguities, i.e., nonuniqueness, in the results of a sensitivity analysis, forcing the analyst to introduce dependencies with downstream analyses, e.g., uncertainty quantification, that employ the sensitivity analysis results. This paper develops the theoretical details for a new algorithm to select model parameter variations that automatically satisfy linear constraints resulting in unique results for the sensitivity analysis, thereby removing any custom dependencies with downstream analyses. To demonstrate the performance of the algorithm, it is applied to solve the multigroup eigenvalue problem for the multiplication factor in a representative CANDU core-wide model. The model parameters analyzed are the group prompt neutron fractions, whose summation must be equal to one over all energy groups. The results indicate that the new algorithm identifies the gradient direction uniquely which represents the direction of maximum change while satisfying the constraints, thus removing any ambiguities resulting from the constraints as identified by earlier work.