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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
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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Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
G. Ivan Maldonado, Paul J. Turinsky, David J. Kropaczek,Geoffrey T. Parks
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 121 | Number 2 | October 1995 | Pages 312-325
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE95-A28567
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The computer code FORMOSA-P (Fuel Optimization for Reloads Multiple Objectives by Simulated Annealing—PWR) has been developed to address pressurized water reactor (PWR) in-core nuclear fuel management optimization. Until recently, the optimization objectives available to the user included minimization of relative power peaking throughout the cycle, maximization of the end-of-cycle reactivity, and maximization of region-average discharge burnup. In addition, during an optimization, various core attributes (including the preceding objectives) can be optionally activated as constraints via penalty functions or to directly reject sampled loading patterns that violate established design limits. The underlying theoretical framework that enables the accurate and efficient calculation of objective and constraint values within the FORMOSA-P code is its higher order, nodal generalized perturbation theory (GPT) neutronics model. The utility of the FORMOSA-P code has been extended to include a traditionally out-of-core decision variable, namely, the fresh (i.e., feed) reload fuel enrichment. This is accomplished by formulating the feed enrichment as a GPT variable that can be adjusted concurrently with changes in the core loading pattern to enforce a target cycle length. This provides a reload designer with the capability to minimize feed enrichment during an in-core optimization while enforcing all other constraints (e.g., power peaking limit, cycle energy requirement, degree of eighth-core power tilt, discharge burnup limit, and moderator temperature coefficient limit).