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
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2026
Latest News
NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Philip M. Daling, Jay E. Marler, Truong V. Vo, Hanh K. Phan, John R. Friley
Nuclear Technology | Volume 109 | Number 3 | March 1995 | Pages 429-436
Technical Note | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35090
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Pacific Northwest Laboratory, under contract to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has conducted an assessment of the values (benefits) and impacts (costs) associated with potential resolutions to Generic Issue 143—“Availability of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Chilled Water Systems.” The key objectives of the study were to (a) identify vulnerabilities related to failures of HVAC, chilled water, and room-cooling systems, (b) develop estimates of room heatup rates and safety-related equipment vulnerabilities following losses of HVAC/room-cooler systems, (c) develop estimates of the core damage frequencies and public risks associated with failures of these systems, (d) develop proposed resolution strategies to this generic issue, and (e) perform a value/impact analysis of the proposed resolutions. Detailed probabilistic risk assessments for four representative plants form the basis for the core damage frequency and public risk calculations. Internally initiated core damage sequences as well as external events were considered. Three proposed resolution strategies were developed for this safety issue, and it was determined that all three were not cost effective. Additional evaluations were performed to develop “generic” insights on potential design-related vulnerabilities and potential high-frequency (> 10−4/reactor-yr) accident sequences that involve failures of HVAC/room-cooling functions. It was concluded that, although high-frequency accident sequences may exist at some plants, these sequences are plant-specific in nature or have been resolved through hardware and/or operational changes. The plant-specific individual plant examinations appear to be an effective vehicle for identification and resolution of these plant-specific anomalies and hardware configurations.