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
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Oct 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
Minoru Yamada, Ikuo Kinoshita, Toshihide Torige, Michio Murase, Yoshitaka Yoshida, Hideo Nakamura
Nuclear Technology | Volume 200 | Number 2 | November 2017 | Pages 125-143
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1362940
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Application of the statistical safety evaluation method to the analysis for reflux cooling in the loss of residual heat removal system (RHR) event during mid-loop operation was conducted with RELAP5/MOD3.2 as the best-estimate code. The evaluation parameters for this event are the reactor coolant system (RCS) pressure and reactor vessel (RV) water level. A phenomena identification and ranking table was developed previously to identify important phenomena that have a large influence on the evaluation parameters. The uncertainties of the analytical models which are related to the important phenomena were quantified to use as input for the statistical analysis. Actual plant sensitivity analyses were carried out to confirm the influence of the uncertainty which was quantified. Validation analysis of the RELAP5/MOD3.2 code was carried out for the reflux cooling test conducted with the ROSA-IV Large-Scale Test Facility to confirm that the experimental RCS pressure results were within the range of the uncertainty of the analytical models. A statistical analysis for 93 cases was carried out for a four-loop plant to evaluate the RV water level in the steady state and the maximum RCS pressure with 95% cumulative probability and 95% confidence. As a result, it was confirmed that reflux cooling using two cooling steam generators was successful.