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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Robert J. Borland
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 121 | Number 1 | September 1995 | Pages 162-171
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE95-A24138
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For most pressurized water reactors, moderator temperature coefficients (MTCs) must be measured at end-of-cycle conditions at power to verify that Technical Specification limits on negative MTC will not be violated. Three techniques for performing these measurements are evaluated, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of each method are discussed. Considering overall accuracy and time required to perform the test, a best method is selected, and its accuracy is compared with previous measurements performed at Davis-Besse Unit 1, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of this technique. In addition, the necessity of attempting to perform this measurement at power at end-of-life conditions is discussed.