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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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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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
Richard J. Thome, Plasma Fusion Center, MIT, NW17-205, Cambridge, MA 02139, (617)253-8155, J. Bart Czirr, Joel H. Schultz
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 3 | November 1986 | Pages 1216-1222
Environment and Safety | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24896
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A survey was conducted among the major centers of large magnet development and operation in the USA to obtain information on magnet system failure and accident events. This paper summarizes the results in four tables which indicate the criticality, “why,” “where,” and “how” of the reported events. A brief summary of each of the 31 events covered in the survey is also included.
