ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
Gabriel F. Cuevas Vivas, Yassin A. Hassan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 127 | Number 3 | September 1999 | Pages 287-300
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT99-A3002
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analysis of the simplified boiling water reactor (SBWR) is carried out using the reactor analysis computer program RAMONA-4B in an operational transient scenario, a turbine trip with failure of all the bypass valves. The SBWR model represents the vessel's internal components, such as flow areas, diameters, and volumes. The one-quarter-core neutron parameters are calculated with the CASMO-3 transport theory lattice physics computer program. The three-dimensional representation of the reactor core uses some standard fuel design parameters, such as a wide central water rod, 8 x 8 lattice, gadolinium rods, etc. The thermal-hydraulic equations are solved with the RAMONA-4B computer program in a closed loop inside the reactor vessel and in 184 parallel channels (including bypass) in the core.Finally, the two-phase coolant and neutronic parameters are calculated in steady state and during the turbine trip transient. The results obtained compare favorably with the standard safety analysis report data.