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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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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High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Hao-Ti Hsu, Ching-Han Chen, Chung-Kung Lo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 12 | December 2020 | Pages 1891-1908
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1731404
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
As one of the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident, long-term station blackout (SBO) and subsequent loss of ultimate heat sinks have prompted discussion on this topic in the nuclear industry. The SBO sequences for a Westinghouse three-loop pressurized water reactor (PWR) have been under investigation for a long period. To cope with the long-term SBO issue, many nuclear power plants have decided to replace the reactor coolant pump (RCP) seal by the new passive thermal shutdown seal (PSDS). The PSDS is a fail-safe protection device that will significantly reduce leakage from the RCP seal in case of loss of cooling. This makes a seal loss-of-coolant accident no longer a risk-significant event, and the relevant probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) models need to be modified to reflect the associated plant change. The PRA model of a Westinghouse PWR plant has been reviewed to reflect this more strongly; i.e. loss of component cooling water (CCW), loss of 4-kV vital alternating-current power, and loss of off-site power are revised for their sequences. According to the Westinghouse analysis, the PSDS temperature must be maintained below 104°C, and the operators have to control the RCP speed. In this paper, those factors are incorporated into the event tree structure revision of the loss of CCW event (TC) and loss of power either off-site (TP) or vital power A train (TAPB). In another case, LOOP initiating events need to consider the time span that the blackout conditions would affect the RCP seal integrity. Because the RCP will be tripped automatically, the limitation associated with RCP speed will not be applicable. Compared with the TC, TP, and TAPB event tree base cases, RCP speed slowdown or available time span is introduced into the PSDS model. The relevant part in the PRA model is subject to review and modification. The risk reduction associated with the PSDS is found to be significant.