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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS 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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AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
J. A. Mowrey, S. I. Abdel-Khalik, K. W. Ross
Nuclear Technology | Volume 111 | Number 2 | August 1995 | Pages 283-302
Technical Paper | Nuclear Criticality Safety Special / Reactor Operation | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35138
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A RELAP5/MOD3.1 model of a boiling water reactor and an interface are developed as a real-time test platform for a physical feedwater control system and turbine governors. The reactor plant modeled is Browns Ferry unit 2. The model is used to test and tune the new digital reactor feedwater control system (RFWCS) for units 2 and 3. The set of modeled components, trips, and controls is determined based on the testing requirements for the RFWCS. The work is performed in two phases. In the first phase, the existing plant is modeled, including the previously existing analog feedwater control system and governor. The resulting RELAP5 model is benchmarked against existing plant data. Benchmarking results are presented along with data on initialization to steady state. Once the benchmarking effort is completed, the control systems in the model are altered to allow testing of the digital RFWCS in real time. An interface is developed to allow communications with the digital RFWCS and operator interaction, which allows the test platform to be used to determine control system response to various transients. Descriptions of the RELAP5 model and hardware and software for the interface are provided.
