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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
2023 ANS Annual Meeting
June 11–14, 2023
Indianapolis, IN|Marriott Indianapolis Downtown
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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Jun 2023
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2023
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
July 2023
Latest News
The Civil Nuclear Credit Program: An overview
Officially established on November 15, 2021, with the signing of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—aka the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL—the Department of Energy’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program was designed to give owners/operators of commercial U.S. reactors the opportunity to apply for certification and competitively bid on credits to help support the continued operation of economically troubled units. Finally, the federal government, and not just certain farsighted state governments, would recognize nuclear energy for its important grid reliability and decarbonization attributes.
Technical Session|Panel
Thursday, November 11, 2021|12:40–2:40PM EST
Session Chair:
Michelle Bensi (Univ Maryland)
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Carol S. Smidts (OSU)
Session Producer:
Zach Berkow
Our fundamental understanding of both external hazards and nuclear power plant (NPP) responses to those hazards has increased in recent years as a result of the expanded use of external hazard probabilistic risk assessment (XHPRA). In parallel, recent operating experience has led to an increased understanding of and appreciation for the ways that external hazard events can affect NPP structures, systems, and components (SSCs) as well as the factors influencing human performance during hazard events. While XHPRA knowledge and experience continue to grow, it remains challenging to represent the spatially and temporally dynamic nature of certain external hazard events within existing PRA modeling tools. Moreover, there is notable variability between hazard groups (e.g., flooding, seismic, and high wind hazards) with respect to the conventions of practice in XHPRA. These differences arise due to the differing XHPRA experience bases across hazard groups as well as fundamental differences in the nature of hazard events and the strategies plants use to respond. As a result, broad uncertainties associated with XHPRA remain. These include uncertainties related to: (1) characterization of the severity and frequency of hazard events; (2) the physical impacts of hazard events on NPP SSCs; (3) event progressions; and (4) the impacts of external hazards on human performance (including FLEX strategies). Further, external hazards can create unique challenges related to site access, evacuation/sheltering, and concurrent/secondary/induced hazards. In existing XHPRA practice, the aforementioned uncertainties and knowledge gaps have typically been addressed via conservative assessments, expert judgment, or simplified models and assumptions. Improvements in model realism can yield important risk insights through the enhancement of plant response procedures. They can also help to expand the utility of XHPRA to assist in evaluating alternative response strategies. There is a need for a risk-informed strategy to identify, characterize, and prioritize drivers of hazard uncertainty. To address this challenge, this panel session will bring together experts in multiple aspects of XHPRA to discuss: • These drivers of uncertainty in XHPRA • Differences in practice (and origins of those differences) among hazard groups • Future directions and potential benefits of efforts to improve model realism and reduce uncertainties
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