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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Nuclear Technology
August 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
Koroush Shirvan, Mujid Kazimi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 184 | Number 3 | December 2013 | Pages 274-286
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A24985
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An optimization search over all design parameters yields a boiling water reactor (BWR) with high power density (BWR-HD) at a power level of 5000 MW(thermal), equivalent to a 26% uprated Advanced BWR (ABWR), the latest version of operating BWR. This results in economic benefits, estimated to be [approximately]20% capital and operation and maintenance costs and similar total fuel cycle cost per unit electricity. A safety analysis of the BWR-HD was performed and compared with that of the ABWR. It covered a range of transients, involving a decrease in reactor coolant inventory or coolant system flow rate, changes in coolant temperature along with increase in reactor pressure, and a reactivity-initiated transient. The BWR-HD's different core flow velocity, feedwater flow rate, core inlet temperature, void coefficient of reactivity, pressure drop, core fuel loading, and volume of fluid in the core resulted in very different response to transients. In general, the 1.3-m-shorter core results in faster scram times and lower total positive reactivity insertions during the transients, which improves the BWR-HD's performance compared to that of the ABWR. The core remains covered and the pressure in the reactor pressure vessel never rises above the licensing limits during any of the simulated transients. The change in minimum critical power ratio for the BWR-HD was smaller than or equal to that of the reference ABWR in all of the six simulated transients. For the loss-of-coolant-inventory accidents and severe accidents, the BWR-HD qualitative performance was judged to be acceptable and could result in an improved response with the lower fuel and zirconium loading.