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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
July 2025
Latest News
NRC approves V.C. Summer’s second license renewal
Dominion Energy’s V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, in Jenkinsville, S.C., has been authorized to operate for 80 years, until August 2062, following the renewal of its operating license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a second time.
John D. Burtt, Louis M. Shotkin, Joseph L. Staudenmeier
Nuclear Technology | Volume 119 | Number 3 | September 1997 | Pages 244-268
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT97-A35401
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calculations were performed for the same accident scenario in the same power plant geometry using the same version of the RELAP5/MOD3.2 computer code, but each calculation was performed using different user options in the code input deck. The accident scenario analyzed was a 1-in. cold-leg break in the new Westing-house AP600 design. The calculations were analyzed for those key events leading to actuation of the AP600 automatic depressurization system. Three different user choices for plant system noding were used: (a) a detailed noding with a quasi-three-dimensional vessel; (b) a simplified system noding with a quasi-three-dimensional core, lower plenum, and upper plenum, but a simplified downcomer noding; and (c) a detailed system and downcomer noding, but a one-dimensional core, lower plenum, and upper plenum. Two other user options were separately exercised, i.e., shutting off the model for thermal stratification and using different initial temperatures for the core. The discussion focuses on the relative effect of these different user options on flow through the P-loop hot leg, initial reversal in flow through the pressure balance line, timing of draining of the core makeup tanks, and timing of actuation of the automatic depressurization system.