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 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2026
Nuclear Technology
June 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2026
Latest News
INL reports findings on unusual quantum behavior of plutonium
Scientists at Idaho National Laboratory have discovered that plutonium hexaboride (PuB6) displays a type of unusual quantum property called a topological Kondo insulating state. Materials with this property are neither typical electricity conductors nor regular insulators. Rather, they have exterior surfaces that strongly conduct electricity and interiors that block electricity.
Stanislav P. Uryasev, Pranab K. Samanta
Nuclear Technology | Volume 116 | Number 2 | November 1996 | Pages 245-256
Technical Paper | Reactor Operation | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35304
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Failure-dependent testing implies a test of redundant components (or trainsj when the failure of one component has been detected. The purpose of such testing is to detect any common-cause failures (CCFs) of multiple components so that a corrective action, such as repair or plant shutdown, can be taken to reduce the residence time of multiple failures. This type of testing focuses on reducing the conditional risk of CCFs. Formulas are developed for calculating the conditional failure probability of a two-train system with different test, repair, and shutdown strategies. A methodology is presented, with an example calculation, showing the risk effectiveness offailure-dependent strategies for emergency diesel generators in nuclear power plants. Four alternative actions after the identification of a failure of one component are analyzed: (a) not carrying out any additional testing, (b) testing the redundant components and shutting down the plant if a CCF is present, (c) emergency repair of the failed component in a given time (less than the allowed outage time), and (d) additional testing of redundant components after the repair of the failed component.