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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.
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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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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?
S. Chatzidakis, A. Ikonomopoulos, M. Alamaniotis
Nuclear Technology | Volume 179 | Number 3 | September 2012 | Pages 392-406
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A14171
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A systematic approach for performing a holistic reactivity insertion analysis in research reactors using the RELAP5/MOD3 code is proposed. The intention is to demonstrate, in an orderly manner, a method for determining the limiting reactivity insertion in a research reactor facility. Indispensable constituents of the algorithmic approach are the introduction of the "time-to-failure" parameter, the selection of the reactivity insertion duration, the evaluation of the control rod drop time, and the computation of engineering factors. The methodology is demonstrated through a RELAP5/MOD3 parametric study performed to determine the limiting reactivity insertion values for the Greek Research Reactor-1 (GRR-1). In the framework of this study, the core nodalization effect on reactivity limits and the degree of conservatism introduced by the engineering factors are discussed. The results obtained confirm the applicability of the approach and reveal the effect of the parameters mentioned above on the performance of reactivity insertion analysis.