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From uncertainty to vitality: The future of nuclear energy in Illinois
Nuclear is enjoying a bit of a resurgence. The momentum for reliable energy to support economic development around the country—specifically data centers and AI—remains strong, and strongly in favor of nuclear. And as feature coverage on the states in the January 2026 issue of Nuclear News made abundantly clear, many states now see nuclear as necessary to support rising electricity demand while maintaining a reliable grid and reaching decarbonization goals.
HyeonTae Kim, Woosong Kim, Yonghee Kim
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 193 | Number 5 | May 2019 | Pages 441-452
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1542867
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper suggests novel approaches to generate exact discontinuity factors (DFs) for transverse-integrated nodal analyses with a two-by-two node configuration in a homogenized fuel assembly (FA). We have shown that the conventional DF calculation scheme cannot generate exact DFs with the nodal expansion method (NEM) calculation when a FA is subdivided into two-by-two nodes due to the inherent discrepancy between the transport-based heterogeneous analysis and the diffusion-based NEM calculation. In order to overcome the difference, an iterative, two-node NEM sweeping method is proposed. In addition, three different formulations to define a single representative DF per assembly surface for the two-by-two NEM are suggested for convenient application for the existing nodal codes while maintaining enough accuracy. Numerical assessments with a colorset model and small modular reactor cores with 16 × by × 16 FAs show that the iterative two-node NEM sweep method successfully corrects the error caused by an inherent discrepancy between the transport and the diffusion method. Among the candidates of a single representative DF, the net current weighted average DFs are found to be the most adequate.