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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Paul Hurley, Connor Pigg, Yang Liu, Tomasz Kozlowski, Juliana Pacheco Duarte
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 6 | June 2024 | Pages 1083-1096
Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2277005
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Density wave oscillation (DWO) is one of the most extensively studied dynamic two-phase flow instabilities. The accurate prediction of these phenomena is important to ensuring safety in two-phase flow systems, such as boiling water reactors (BWRs). Recent reactor power uprates have led to the need for more accurate simulations at the system scale. For reactor licensing, the thermal-hydraulic computational code TRACE, developed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is used for best-estimate predictions of light water reactors. One BWR power uprate condition of recent interest is the Maximum Extended Load Line Limit Analysis Plus, or MELLLA+, which allows BWRs to operate at lower core flow rates while maintaining the same power levels. Experiments performed at the Karlstein thermal-hydraulic test facility (KATHY) have shown that an anticipated transient without scram while operating under these conditions can lead to the development of DWOs.
This technical note assesses the capability of TRACE V5P7 to simulate DWO onset and development by comparison to the KATHY experimental data under natural circulation, focusing only on the thermal-hydraulic mechanisms. This study shows the analysis of DWO development from this data set, which utilized electrically heated fuel rods with a nonuniform axial power profile in a full-scale BWR rod bundle. The developed TRACE model is shown to be capable of producing DWO-type instability under the experimental conditions, while also allowing for an expanded parametric study on factors impacting stability.
