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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
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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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?
Tsung-Kuang Yeh
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 142 | Number 2 | October 2002 | Pages 220-229
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE01-72
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The technique of noble metal chemical addition (NMCA), accompanied by a low-level hydrogen water chemistry (HWC), is being employed by several U.S. nuclear power plants for mitigating intergranular stress corrosion cracking in the vessel internals of their boiling water reactors (BWRs). An improved computer model by the name of DEMACE was employed to evaluate the performance of NMCA throughout the primary coolant circuit (PCC) of a commercial BWR. The molar ratios of hydrogen to oxidizing species in the PCC under normal water chemistry and HWC are analyzed. The effectiveness of NMCA is justified by calculated electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) around the PCC and in a local power range monitoring (LPRM) housing tube, in which practical in-vessel ECP measurements are normally taken.Prior to the modeling work for the BWR, the Mixed Potential Model, which is embedded in DEMACE and responsible for ECP calculation, was calibrated against both laboratory and plant ECP data. After modeling for various HWC conditions, it is found that the effectiveness of NMCA in the PCC of the selected BWR varies from region to region. In particular, the predicted ECP in the LPRM housing tube is notably different from that in the nearby bulk environment under NMCA, indicating that cautions must be given to a possible, undesirable outcome due to a distinct ECP difference between a locally confined area and the actual bulk environment.