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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Taeseung Lee, Richard B. Vilim (ANL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 209-221
The Supervisory Control System (SCS) provides overall coordination of the plant actuators that includes automatically regulating process variables so that performance goals are safely met for all operating modes. The system during normal electric power production operates through a hierarchical structure with steam demand supplied as an input at the top level, and based on this value, coordinated set points are issued to lower level sub-system controllers. Through the use of the Supervisory Control System, hot-side temperatures can be maintained near-constant during transients so that thermal fatigue is significantly reduced from otherwise. The design strategy for the control system regards the plant response to a change in electric generator load as consisting of two components: steady-state and transient. There is the equilibrium state the plant will reach in asymptotic time (steady-state) in response to the changed condition. The steady-state control algorithm, or Load Schedule as it is known, manages steady-state temperatures. There is the dynamic component of the response (transient) which can be regarded as superimposed on the asymptotic state. The Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) Controllers manage the dynamic response component. In this work, the Supervisory Control System is designed for electric power operation of a pool-type metallic-fueled Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). 10% step and 5%/min ramp load change cases were simulated with a one-dimensional system analysis code to assess the performance of the SISO controllers.