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Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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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Modernizing I&C for operations and maintenance, one phase at a time
The two reactors at Dominion Energy’s Surry plant are among the oldest in the U.S. nuclear fleet. Yet when the plant celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, staff could raise a toast to the future. Surry was one of the first plants to file a subsequent license renewal (SLR) application, and in May 2021, it became official: the plant was licensed to operate for a full 80 years, extending its reactors’ lifespans into 2052 and 2053.
Xiaoyu Hu, Yousry Y. Azmy
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 195 | Number 6 | June 2021 | Pages 598-613
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2020.1860634
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To determine the angular discretization error asymptotic convergence rate of the uncollided scalar flux computed with the discrete ordinates (S) method, a comprehensive theory of the regularity order with respect to the azimuthal angle of the exact pointwise SN uncollided angular flux is derived based on the integral form of the transport equation in two-dimensional Cartesian geometry. With this theory, the regularity order of the pointwise uncollided angular flux can be estimated for a given problem configuration. Our new theory inspired a novel Modified Simpson’s (MS) quadrature that converges the uncollided scalar flux faster than any of the traditional quadratures by avoiding integration across points of irregularity in the azimuthal angle. Numerical results successfully verify our new theory in four variants of a test configuration, and the angular discretization errors in the corresponding scalar flux computed with conventional angular quadrature types and with our new quadrature types are found to converge with different orders. The error convergence rates obtained with traditional quadrature types are limited by the regularity order of the exact angular flux and the quadrature’s integration intervals while our new MS quadrature types converge with order two to four times higher than traditional quadratures. A detailed study of oscillations observed in certain quadrature errors is provided by introducing the effective length of the irregular interval and the associated oscillating function.