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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|3:15–4:55PM CDT|Salon B
Session Chair:
Peter G. Newby
Co-Chair:
Darren J. Skitt
Session Organizer:
Kallie E. Metzger
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Metallic Fuel Research and Development in the U.S. National Program
3:15–3:40PM CDT
Colby B. Jensen (INL), Douglas L. Porter (INL), Nicolas E. Woolstenhulme (INL), Tiankai Yao (INL), Pavel G. Medvedev (INL), Randall S. Fielding (INL), Benjamin P. Eftink (LANL), Stuart A. Maloy (PNNL), Caleb P. Massey (ORNL), Kun Mo (ANL), Daniel M. Wachs (INL)
Paper
Metal Fuel Performance in Sodium Fast Reactors: Post-Irradiation Examination
3:40–4:05PM CDT
Tiankai Yao (INL), Randall S. Fielding (INL), Yachun Wang (INL), Colby B. Jensen (INL), Douglas L. Porter (INL)
Implementation of a Constituent Redistribution Model for Metallic U-Zr and U-Pu-Zr Fuels in the FAST Fuel Performance Code
4:05–4:30PM CDT
Dylan F. Wray (PNNL), Kenneth J. Geelhood (PNNL), Kevin T. Clarno (Univ. Texas, Austin)
Metallic Fuel Fabrication Optimization
4:30–4:55PM CDT
Randall S. Fielding (INL), Alejandro Dayag (INL), Adrian Silva (TAMU)
The Effects of U-Zr Thermal Properties on Post-CHF Heat Transfer in Pressurized Water-Cooled Reactors
4:55–5:20PM CDT
Birol Aktas (Lightbridge)
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