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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Framatome signs contracts with Sizewell C
French nuclear developer Framatome is slated to deliver key equipment for Sizewell C Ltd.’s two large reactors planned for the United Kingdom’s Suffolk coast.
The agreement, reportedly worth multiple billions of euros, was announced this week and will involve Framatome from the design phase until commissioning. The company also agreed to a long-term fuel supply deal. Framatome is 80.5 percent owned by France’s EDF and 19.5 percent owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
M. Pellegrini, L. Herranz, M. Sonnenkalb, T. Lind, Y. Maruyama, R. Gauntt, N. Bixler, A. Morreale, K. Dolganov, T. Sevon, D. Jacquemain, C. Journeau, J. H. Song, Y. Nishi, S. Mizokami
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 9 | September 2020 | Pages 1449-1463
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1724731
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Benchmark Study of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (BSAF), which started in 2012 and continued until 2018, was one of the earliest responses to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi. The project, divided into two phases, addressed the investigation of the accident at Units 1, 2, and 3 by severe accident (SA) codes until 500 h, focusing on thermal hydraulics, core relocation, molten corium concrete interaction (MCCI), and fission product release and transport. The objectives of the BSAF were to make up plausible scenarios based primarily on SA forensic analysis, support the decommissioning, and inform SA code modeling. The analysis and comparison among the institutes have brought up vital insights regarding the accident progression, identifying periods of core meltdown and relocation and reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and primary containment vessel (PCV) leakage/failure through the comparison of pressure, water level, and containment atmosphere monitoring system (CAMS) signatures. The combination of code results and inspections (muon radiography, PCV inspection) has provided a picture of the current status of the debris distribution and plant status. All units present a large relocation of core materials and all of them present ex-vessel debris with Unit 1 and Unit 3 showing evidence of undergoing MCCI. Uncertainties have been identified, in particular on the time and magnitude of events such as corium relocation in the RPV and into the cavity floor and RPV and PCV rupture events. Main uncertainties resulting from the project are the large and continuous MCCI progression predicted by basically all the SA codes and the leak pathways from the RPV to the PCV and the PCV to the reactor building and environment. The BSAF project represents a pioneering exercise that has set the basis and provided lessons learned not only for code improvement but also for the development of new related projects to investigate in detail further aspects of the Fukushima Daiichi accident.