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Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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Latest News
High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Shifa Wu, Jiashuang Wan, Hongbing Song, Xinyu Wei, Fuyu Zhao, Shripad Revankar
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 192 | Number 3 | December 2018 | Pages 275-297
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1501976
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A novel concept of implementing the advanced mechanical shim (MSHIM) control system on the improved Chinese Pressurized Water Reactor (CPR1000) is proposed. The reactor power control system of CPR1000 is redesigned to adopt the MSHIM control system while the other parameters and control systems remain unchanged. To investigate the control performance and safety margins of this reconfiguration, the CPR1000 Full-Scope Simulation Platform (CFSSP) is first developed in MATLAB/Simulink with relevant control systems and protection system considered. The CFSSP consists of the one-dimensional nodal core model, the nonequilibrium three-region pressurizer model, the lumped-parameters dynamic model of U-tube steam generator with movable boiling boundary, and the balance of plant model. Based on the CFSSP, operational transients of step and linear turbine load changes were simulated and analyzed. The simulation results agree well with physical laws and the control performance is satisfactory. All key parameters are kept within acceptable ranges with enough safety margins and thus the protection system is not triggered. Therefore, the CPR1000 nuclear power plant implementing the MSHIM control system can safely sustain the ±10% full-power (FP) step changes and ±5% FP/min linear changes of load transients. This study can serve as a reference for the MSHIM control system application to pressurized water reactors.
