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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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
Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
Andhika F. Wibisono (Univ of Cambridge), Jeong Ik Lee (KAIST), Eugene Shwageraus (Univ of Cambridge)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 1056-1065
Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are known to be used as providers of base-load power. As the share of the intermittent renewables in the energy mix increases, the maneuvering (load-following) of NPPs is becoming more important. Previous studies have found that combining Light Water Reactors (LWRs) with external superheater would improve their cycle thermal efficiencies and maneuvering capabilities. Implementation of this concept in a small modular boiling water reactor (SMBWR) might offer additional benefits, such as vessel size reduction and further boost of cycle thermal efficiency at higher operating pressure. This paper presents a preliminary design of hybrid SMBWR, focusing on the effect of system pressure on reactor capability to operate with natural recirculation of coolant and on steam cycle thermodynamic performance. It is demonstrated that hybrid SMBWR has natural circulation system operating at higher pressure than the conventional system by increasing its chimney height. The study of the effect of system pressure on power cycle thermodynamic performance was done by considering both fossil fuel heat and renewable heat as the potential heat source for the external superheater. The cycle thermal efficiency of hybrid SMBWR with fossil heat option varies between 40 to 42% depending on the system operating pressure while the values for renewable heat option are between 38 to 40%.