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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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Latest News
NEA report calls for more accurate data on SNF heat decay
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has issued a report calling for more-detailed information on tracking the decay heat of spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors. According to the NEA, the report highlights the increasing importance of accurate decay heat estimations due to evolving fuel characteristics, including higher initial fuel enrichment, increased burn-up rates, and extended reactor cycle lengths.
The report, Summary of the NEA Assessment on Spent Nuclear Fuel Decay Heat for Light Water Reactors, summarizes the findings of a subgroup of the NEA’s Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS), which ran from January 2022 to January 2024.
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by HFICD
Wednesday, November 15, 2023|1:00–2:45PM EST|Georgetown West
Session Chair:
Syed Bahauddin Alam (Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Session Organizer:
Vivek Agarwal (Idaho National Lab)
The nuclear industry, as highlighted by both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Energy (DOE), has yet to fully harness the potential of recent advancements in AI/ML techniques. In this context, Digital Twin (DT) technology is poised to play a pivotal role in facilitating risk-informed decision-making. The NRC's "FY2021-23 Planned Research Activities" and "NRC Future Focused Research" identify "Methodology and Evaluation Tools for Digital Twin Applications" as a top-priority strategic area. However, the implementation of DT in nuclear systems poses significant challenges that need to be addressed. These challenges encompass various aspects, including: (a) Incorporating trustworthy data analytics algorithms, (b) Dealing with noisy or erroneous data and addressing data unavailability, (c) Quantifying uncertainties associated with DT, (d) Ensuring robust optimization techniques, and (e) Developing update modules in DT through the resolution of "On-the-fly Inverse Problems." In this panel session, we will explore the enabling technologies and components required to establish DT in the nuclear industry. Our discussion will delve into the solutions for tackling the aforementioned challenges and unlocking the potential benefits of DT for nuclear systems.
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