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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Remembering ANS member Gil Brown
Brown
The nuclear community is mourning the loss of Gilbert Brown, who passed away on July 11 at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer.
Brown, an American Nuclear Society Fellow and an ANS member for nearly 50 years, joined the faculty at Lowell Technological Institute—now the University of Massachusetts–Lowell—in 1973 and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became director of the UMass Lowell nuclear engineering program. After his retirement, he remained an emeritus professor at the university.
Sukesh Aghara, chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization, noted in an email to NEDHO members and others that “Gil was a relentless advocate for nuclear energy and a deeply respected member of our professional community. He was also a kind and generous friend—and one of the reasons I ended up at UMass Lowell. He served the university with great dedication. . . . Within NEDHO, Gil was a steady presence and served for many years as our treasurer. His contributions to nuclear engineering education and to this community will be dearly missed.”
Thomas K. S. Liang, Chung-Yu Yang, Liang-Che Dai, Fu-Kuang Ko
Nuclear Technology | Volume 153 | Number 2 | February 2006 | Pages 184-196
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT06-A3699
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The blowdown of feedwater (FW) line breaks (FWLBs) has been successfully analyzed by using the Appendix K version of RELAP5-3D. To adequately simulate a feedwater blowdown event, one must consider the main steam system, the turbine system, the moisture separator reheaters (MSRs), the main condenser, and the condensate and FW system as all are involved in the modeling scope. The essential components of the simulation scope include the steam header, the high- and low-pressure turbines, the MSR, the FW pump (FWP) turbines, the main condenser, the condensate and booster pumps, the FW heaters of six stages, the steam extraction of seven stages, and the turbine-driven FWPs. All of the components are connected by associated piping as designed.Regarding the FW blowdown analysis, blowdown mass and energy are the two most important parameters to be calculated. Several essential phenomena are involved in this FW blowdown event, which include critical flow at the break and the internal venturi, flashing of FW near the break, runout and coastdown of the FWPs, steam extraction to FW heaters and FWP turbines, flashing of saturated water initially stored inside the FW heater shell sides and MSR drain tanks, energy release from saturated water and system metal, and cold water transportation from the main condenser to the break. All the essential processes involved during FWLB can be well simulated by the advanced Appendix K version of RELAP5-3D. The blowdown analysis calculated by RELAP5-3D/K for the FWLB was contracted to provide a solid basis for the final safety analysis report containment design analysis for the Lungmen advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) plant. The successful application of RELAP5 for the entire balance-of-plant simulation and associated FW blowdown analysis indicates that the advanced RELAP5 can extend its traditional reactor safety analysis to the entire power conversion system simulation and analysis.
