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Conference Spotlight
2026 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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Latest News
Flamanville-3 reaches full power
France’s state-owned electric utility EDF has announced that Flamanville-3—the country’s first EPR—reached full nuclear thermal power for the first time, generating 1,669 megawatts of gross electrical power. This major milestone is significant in terms of both this project and France’s broader nuclear sector.
Noah A. Weichselbaum, Shadman Hussain, Morteza Rahimi-Abkenar, Majid T. Manzari, Philippe M. Bardet
Nuclear Technology | Volume 195 | Number 1 | July 2016 | Pages 98-104
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NT15-93
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effect of water on the dynamics response of fuel bundles in pressurized water reactors during external forcing is studied experimentally inside a large facility that houses a full-height bundle and is operated on an earthquake shake table. This configuration is directly relevant to earthquakes and loss-of-coolant accidents. Most data to date have been focused on structural response and some pointwise measurements of liquid velocity. Here, structure displacement coupled with velocity field are investigated with nonintrusive optical diagnostics in initially stagnant water. Data indicate that a flow develops as the structure oscillates: both a cross flow through the bundle and an axial pulsatile flow that was not anticipated. A physical mechanism is proposed as a source of this structure-induced flow that is driven by pressure gradients around the fuel bundle.