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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
2023 ANS Annual Meeting
June 11–14, 2023
Indianapolis, IN|Marriott Indianapolis Downtown
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!
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Latest News
Two new reports shed light on Hanford’s tank waste challenges
A pair of recent reports by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine highlight some of the challenges the Department of Energy faces in treating the millions of gallons of legacy radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
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.