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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Optimizing nuclear plant outages: Data analytics tools and methods for enhancing resilience and efficiency
Nuclear power plant refueling outages are among the most complex phases in a plant’s operational cycle.1 During these outages, tens of thousands of activities, including maintenance and surveillance, are conducted simultaneously within a short timeframe. Typically lasting three to four weeks, these operations involve large crews of contractors with diverse skill sets performing tasks ranging from testing and surveillance to maintenance. Outages may extend longer if major backfitting or modernization projects are planned. Consequently, plant outages are expensive, incurring significant operational costs, such as contractor labor and equipment, as well as the loss of generation while the plant is off line. This can easily cost a plant operator more than $1 million a day. Therefore, there is a constant need to mitigate the economic impact on plants by reducing the frequency, duration, and risks associated with these outages.2,3
Technical Session|FCWMD
Tuesday, October 7, 2025|8:00–9:40AM CDT|Salon B
Session Chair:
Nathan Capps
Co-Chair:
Nicolas Woolstenhulme
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Introducing HEPHAESTUS: A Furnace for Dry Storage Testing of Spent Nuclear Fuel at Studsvik's Hot Cells
8:00–8:25AM CDT
Felix Boldt (BGZ Company for Interim Storage), Peter Kaufholz (BGZ Company for Interim Storage), Timo Neikes (BGZ Company for Interim Storage), Mathias Segerberg (Studsvik Nuclear AB), Maik Stuke (BGZ Company for Interim Storage), Pia Tejland (Studsvik Nuclear AB)
Paper
An Instrumented Irradiation Capsule Design to Measure Thermal Conductivity in Miniature UO2 Specimens
8:25–8:50AM CDT
Jacob P. Gorton (ORNL), Trevor Parker (Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)), Kara M. Godsey (ORNL), Dillon Cranford (ORNL), Padhraic L. Mulligan (ORNL), Richard H. Howard (ORNL), Nathan Capps (ORNL), Christian M. Petrie (ORNL), Andrew T. Nelson (ORNL)
Design of an Out-of-Pile Experimental Facility to Demonstrate Feasibility of In Situ Thermal Conductivity Measurements of Nuclear Fuels Under Irradiation
8:50–9:15AM CDT
Trevor Parker (Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)), Jacob P. Gorton (ORNL), Dillon Cranford (ORNL), Daniel C. Sweeney (ORNL), Padhraic L. Mulligan (ORNL), Christian M. Petrie (ORNL), Richard H. Howard (ORNL), Kenneth Cooper (ORNL)
Development of an In Situ Fission Gas Release Instrument for Fuel Sample Irradiations in the High Flux Isotope Reactor
9:15–9:40AM CDT
Padhraic L. Mulligan (ORNL), Jacob P. Gorton (ORNL), Trevor Parker (ORNL), Dillon Cranford (ORNL), N. Dianne B. Ezell (ORNL), Richard H. Howard (ORNL), Christian M. Petrie (ORNL), Kara M. Godsey (ORNL), Nathan Capps (ORNL), Jason Harp (ORNL)
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