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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
Man Gyun Na, Belle R. Upadhyaya, Jung In Choi
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 129 | Number 3 | July 1998 | Pages 283-293
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE98-A1982
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A multivariable adaptive control algorithm is applied to the axial flux shape control in a pressurized water reactor. This is one of the most challenging control problems in the nuclear field. The reactor model used for computer simulations is a two-point xenon oscillation model based on the nonlinear xenon and iodine balance equations and a one-group, one-dimensional, neutron diffusion equation having nonlinear power reactivity feedback that adequately describes axial oscillations and treats the nonlinearities explicitly. The reactor core is axially divided into two regions, and it is considered that each region has one input and one output and is coupled with the other region. The control parameters are updated on-line with the generalized least-squares method to adjust the varying operating conditions. Therefore, this algorithm is able to treat the varying operating conditions well. Also, this control algorithm exhibits very fast responses due to the step and ramp changes of target axial shape without any residual flux oscillations between the upper and lower halves of the reactor core.