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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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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April 2024
Nuclear Technology
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February 2024
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?
L.-Y. Cheng, J. S. Baek, A. Cuadra, A. Aronson, D. Diamond, P. Yarsky
Nuclear Technology | Volume 196 | Number 2 | November 2016 | Pages 238-247
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT16-29
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A TRACE/PARCS model has been developed to analyze anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) events for a boiling water reactor (BWR) operating in the maximum extended load line limit analysis-plus (MELLLA+) expanded operating domain. The MELLLA+ domain expands the allowable operation in the power/flow map of a BWR to low flow rates at high-power conditions. Such operation exacerbates the likelihood of large-amplitude power/flow oscillations during certain ATWS scenarios. The analysis shows that large-amplitude power/flow oscillations, both core-wide and out-of-phase, arise following the establishment of natural-circulation flow in the reactor pressure vessel after the trip of the recirculation pumps and an increase in core inlet subcooling. The analysis also indicates a mechanism by which the fuel may experience heatup that could result in localized fuel damage. TRACE predicts that heatup will occur when the cladding surface temperature exceeds the minimum stable film boiling temperature after periodic cycles of dryout and rewet, and the fuel becomes locked into a boiling-film regime. Further, the analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of the simulated manual operator actions to suppress the instability.