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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Dec 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
January 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Nathan Lau, Hao Wang (Virginia Tech), Shawn St. Germain, Andrea S. Harvey (INL), Matthew B. Weinger, Shilo Anders (Vanderbilt Univ Medical Center)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 664-673
Nuclear power plant (NPP) outage represents a major operational cost that must be minimized to sustain competitiveness in the US energy market. However, outage management can be challenging because myriad of interdependent activities may need adjustment over the course of the outage. We conducted a site vist to the Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory and a literature review to identify general directions for innovations in interactive visualization for outage management. First, new approaches are needed to represent task and scheduling uncertainty to better support estimates of effort and cost overruns as tasks change during outages. This would allow staff to project the likelihood of overruns and reallocate resources as appropriate. Second, outage support software should facilitate visualization of resource constraints whether hard (e.g., regulatory requirements) or ‘soft’ (i.e., those with cost, morale, or other consequences). When responding to emergent issues or unplanned work, the outage staff must be aware of all potential alternatives (e.g., overtime, additional staff, deferrable tasks) and the short- and longer-term implications of each choice. Third, there is currently limited understanding of how best to support outage staff’s ability to simulate the impact of potential schedule adjustments in response to new or reallocated work. Graphical “what if” scenario depictions should be an important component of future visualization capabilities. To realize the potential of AOCC, interactive visualization for outage management must better support situation awareness, decision-making and planning.