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Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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Latest News
Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
Christopher R. Hughes, Oswaldo Pelaez, Duwayne Schubring, Kelly A. Jordan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 190 | Number 3 | June 2015 | Pages 292-300
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-74
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work concerns the comparison of supercritical water reactor (SCWR) assembly designs using coupled reactor physics and thermal-hydraulic methods. In the SCWR, large density gradients in the supercritical water (used as coolant and moderator) will require detailed multiphysics analysis. The Super Light Water Reactor (SLWR) was analyzed previously [Hughes et al., Nucl. Eng. Des., Vol. 270 (2014)], where MCNP5 was coupled with density and temperature results from a single-channel code. MCNP5 then provided the single-channel code with a linear heat profile. In the present work, that proposed assembly design is determined to have a negative density coefficient of reactivity. Two alternate designs with different geometries and water-to-fuel ratios are presently considered to address this issue. It is found that adding an additional row of pins is more effective at producing a positive density coefficient than is reducing the size of the moderator boxes.