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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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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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Latest News
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?
Michael V. Frank, William E. Kastenberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 159 | Number 1 | July 2007 | Pages 25-38
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3854
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A risk-management framework for space mission launches of nuclear reactors is presented in this paper. The framework is based on a set of risk-based safety goals and relies on decision-theoretic principles that advance system design from concept through operation. Because time-dependent behavior is inherent in space missions, a quasi-dynamic probabilistic risk assessment framework is described. We illustrate a use of the framework with a risk management example.A rationale for, and a trial set of, qualitative safety goals and quantitative design objectives for launching space nuclear power plants are presented. The rationale is based on background risks to the general public, on accident risks to the population in the area of the launch site and on other large-consequence single-event catastrophes. Guidance is also obtained from the safety goals developed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Federal Aviation Administration. The quantitative design objectives developed and presented are also compared to the calculated risks of previous launches with radioisotope thermal-electric generators such as for the Galileo, Ulysses, and Cassini missions.