ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
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.
Tsung-Kuang Yeh
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 142 | Number 2 | October 2002 | Pages 220-229
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE01-72
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The technique of noble metal chemical addition (NMCA), accompanied by a low-level hydrogen water chemistry (HWC), is being employed by several U.S. nuclear power plants for mitigating intergranular stress corrosion cracking in the vessel internals of their boiling water reactors (BWRs). An improved computer model by the name of DEMACE was employed to evaluate the performance of NMCA throughout the primary coolant circuit (PCC) of a commercial BWR. The molar ratios of hydrogen to oxidizing species in the PCC under normal water chemistry and HWC are analyzed. The effectiveness of NMCA is justified by calculated electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) around the PCC and in a local power range monitoring (LPRM) housing tube, in which practical in-vessel ECP measurements are normally taken.Prior to the modeling work for the BWR, the Mixed Potential Model, which is embedded in DEMACE and responsible for ECP calculation, was calibrated against both laboratory and plant ECP data. After modeling for various HWC conditions, it is found that the effectiveness of NMCA in the PCC of the selected BWR varies from region to region. In particular, the predicted ECP in the LPRM housing tube is notably different from that in the nearby bulk environment under NMCA, indicating that cautions must be given to a possible, undesirable outcome due to a distinct ECP difference between a locally confined area and the actual bulk environment.