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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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Powering the future: How the DOE is fueling nuclear fuel cycle research and development
As global interest in nuclear energy surges, the United States must remain at the forefront of research and development to ensure national energy security, advance nuclear technologies, and promote international cooperation on safety and nonproliferation. A crucial step in achieving this is analyzing how funding and resources are allocated to better understand how to direct future research and development. The Department of Energy has spearheaded this effort by funding hundreds of research projects across the country through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). This initiative has empowered dozens of universities to collaborate toward a nuclear-friendly future.
Kuan-Jan Lin, Chaung Lin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 130 | Number 1 | September 1998 | Pages 128-140
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE98-A1995
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A knowledge-based expert system was developed for generating a pressurized water reactor fuel reload design. First, an initial loading pattern was generated according to the fuel assembly's infinite multiplication factor, by using heuristic rules. Then, the fuel assembly was swapped or rotated, using heuristic rules, to satisfy an assumed search target. The search target was the defined nuclear enthalpy rise hot-channel factor FH at each fuel assembly location. When FH's of a trial loading pattern satisfied the search target, the pattern met the design limit at each exposure checkpoint for all control rods out and D-bank control rods half-inserted conditions, which is the design requirement. The developed program successfully generated several reload cycles for the Maanshan nuclear power plant in Taiwan.
