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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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
Carlo Alvani, Sergio Casadio, Lorenzo Lorenzini, Giovanni Brambilla
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 1 | July 1986 | Pages 106-112
Technical Paper | Materials Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24751
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The gamma-LiAlO2 ceramic material is the reference candidate for the solid breeder option of the Next European Torus Program. The experiments and methodologies developed in Italy to produce high surface area gamma-LiAl02 powders to be compacted by cold pressing and sintering at 70 to 90% of the theoretical density, keeping a near fully open porosity is presented. The lithiating step was assessed for the Li2CO3 and Li2O2 precursors reacting with Al2O3 having submicron grain size. Sol-gel methodologies were also developed for the gamma-LiAlO2 preparation by which very high surface area ceramic grade powders were obtained.
