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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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DOE issues new NEPA rule and procedures—and accelerates DOME reactor testing
Meeting a deadline set in President Trump’s May 23 executive order “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy,” the DOE on June 30 updated information on its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rulemaking and implementation procedures and published on its website an interim final rule that rescinds existing regulations alongside new implementing procedures.
A. Kemal Ziver, Jonathan N. Carter, Christopher C. Pain, Cassiano R. E. de Oliveira, Antony J. H. Goddard, Richard S. Overton
Nuclear Technology | Volume 141 | Number 2 | February 2003 | Pages 122-141
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT03-A3355
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A genetic algorithm (GA)-based optimizer (GAOPT) has been developed for in-core fuel management of advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs) at HINKLEY B and HARTLEPOOL, which employ on-load and off-load refueling, respectively. The optimizer has been linked to the reactor analysis code PANTHER for the automated evaluation of loading patterns in a two-dimensional geometry, which is collapsed from the three-dimensional reactor model. GAOPT uses a directed stochastic (Monte Carlo) algorithm to generate initial population members, within predetermined constraints, for use in GAs, which apply the standard genetic operators: selection by tournament, crossover, and mutation. The GAOPT is able to generate and optimize loading patterns for successive reactor cycles (multicycle) within acceptable CPU times even on single-processor systems. The algorithm allows radial shuffling of fuel assemblies in a multicycle refueling optimization, which is constructed to aid long-term core management planning decisions. This paper presents the application of the GA-based optimization to two AGR stations, which apply different in-core management operational rules. Results obtained from the testing of GAOPT are discussed.