ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
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Latest News
“Summer time” again? Santee Cooper thinks so
South Carolina public utility Santee Cooper and its partner South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) called a halt to the Summer-2 and -3 AP1000 construction project in July 2017, citing costly delays and the bankruptcy of Westinghouse. The well-chronicled legal fallout included indictments and settlements, and ultimately left Santee Cooper with the ownership of nonnuclear assets at the construction site in Jenkinsville, S.C.
Roger Lew (Univ of Idaho), Ronald L. Boring, Thomas A. Ulrich (INL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 932-940
Research on computer-based procedure (CBP) systems has found operational advantages over paper-based procedures (PBPs) including reduced memory workload, increased automation, and fewer operator errors. A Nuclear Regulatory Commision (NRC) study (1995) found that procedure related issues have been implicated in 69% of reported events for nuclear power plants (NPPs). Despite the associated risk with existing PBPs, utilities are hesitant to be first adopters and research is needed to validate systems in the context of modernized but largely analog Generation II main control rooms. Existing implementations of CBP systems have started from the ground up and where able to have tailored operations to support CBP systems. For existing plants this is a time-consuming, expensive, and potentially risky proposition, which represents a substantial shift current operational practices. For example, plants have existing protocols for authoring and maintaining procedures that serve as administrative controls over processes. Therefore, procedures serve organizational and administrative purposes unrelated to the actual operator control of the plant. A replacement computerized system must be able to replace existing functionality and dovetail with these organizational processes. This document describes the functional characteristics and technical specification for a Computerized Procedure Engine (CPE) designed to meet the needs of modernized United States (US) NPPs. The CPE is designed with flexibility in mind to satisfy a variety of functional and research objectives.