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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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College students help develop waste-measuring device at Hanford
A partnership between Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and Washington State University has resulted in the development of a device to measure radioactive and chemical tank waste at the Hanford Site. WRPS is the contractor at Hanford for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management.
Andrea Bucalossi, Alessandro Petruzzi, Marian Kristof, Francesco D'Auria
Nuclear Technology | Volume 172 | Number 1 | October 2010 | Pages 29-47
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT172-29
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Computational reactor safety analysis is trending to replace conservative evaluation model calculations with best-estimate analysis complemented by uncertainty evaluation of the code results. In such cases, the evaluation of the margin to acceptance criteria (e.g., the maximum fuel rod clad temperature) is based on the upper limit of the calculated uncertainty range. Uncertainty analysis is compulsory if relevant conclusions are to be obtained from best-estimate thermal-hydraulic code calculations in order to avoid presenting single values of unknown accuracy for comparison with regulatory acceptance limits.This paper, after a thorough introduction of conservative and best-estimate methods and characterization of the main sources of uncertainties affecting best-estimate system codes, applies a best-estimate-plus-uncertainty (BEPU) method to three cases having as reference different nuclear power plants and different types of transients. Finally, the results from the BEPU approach is compared with a conservative approach and a combined approach.