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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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
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.”
Ho-Wuk Kim, Taeyang Kim, Daniel Morrow, Xiaoning Jiang (NCSU)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 258-267
This article aims to develop a stress sensing technique using both subsurface longitudinal (SSL) waves and 1-3 composite transducer for a pressurized tank. Time-of-flight (TOF) of an SSL wave is affected by the elastic modulus of the structure, which is influenced by internal pressure. Therefore, it can be presumed that TOF variation of the propagated wave is correlated to the tank’s internal pressure and structural stress. This sensing mechanism has been commonly utilized in both stress and pressure measurement, yet the excitation signal and the transducer material have not been thoroughly investigated. For high signal sensitivity and accurate estimation of TOF, we employed 1-3 composite transducers as both ultrasound transmitter and receiver. In this study, the center frequency of the 1-3 composite is chosen to be 4.4 MHz so that the wavelength is shorter than the tank thickness. Next, for the purposes of generating the critical refraction angle (42?) and providing an acoustic impedance matching layer, brass wedges are employed as intermediate material between the active element and the tank structure. Finally, the performance of the sensing system is validated through a numerical simulation and experimental results. Simulation result verifies that the signal intensity becomes as much as 72.3 % greater than that of a single-phase thickness-mode transducer. Experimental results successfully exhibit that the time-delay of SSL wave is linearly proportional to the structural stress of the pressurized tank.