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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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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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Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
R. Accorsi, M. Marseguerra, E. Padovani, E. Zio
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 132 | Number 3 | July 1999 | Pages 326-336
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2067
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In real, complex plants, a sensitivity analysis of the effects that variations in the plant inputs and design parameters have on the outputs is of great importance both from the point of view of productivity and of safety. To a first approximation, sensitivity analysis consists of estimating the partial derivatives of the outputs with respect to the varied quantities. These derivatives cannot be obtained on the real plant directly since the effects of all the involved variables are intermixed. Therefore, one has to resort to suitable computational models and algorithms.A new neural network approach that aims at creating a differentiable copy of the plant is proposed. A feature of the method is that the data for network training are collected with the system in nominal operation: This represents, indeed, a fundamental constraint for all risky plants, for which unrestrained playing is definitely not recommended. The sensitivity coefficients (partial derivatives) thereby obtained are applied for the regulation of the reactivity of a simulated pressurized water reactor in response to changes in the electric load at the power grid, so as to maintain the average temperature of the water in the reactor core at a constant value.