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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NuScale Energy Exploration Center opens at George Mason University
NuScale Power Corporation has opened another Energy Exploration (E2) Center—this one at George Mason University in Arlington, Va. Just last month, a NuScale E2 Center opened at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C. The newest E2 at George Mason is the company’s 11th center.
Yu-Jen Huang, Keng-Yen Chiang, Song-Nan Tsau, Ming Tong Hsu, Jec-Kong Gone, Bin Kao, Chi-Szu Lee, Shin Chang (AEC)
Proceedings | Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference (2018 PBNC) | San Francisco, CA, September 30-October 4, 2018 | Pages 604-609
Most nuclear power plants (NPPs) built in the early stages were designed to operate at steady full power, known as ‘base-load’ operation. However, more and more nuclear power companies would like to have the flexibility to operate their NPPs depending on the load demand, which means to change how they operate from the base-load mode to flexible mode. Taipower company (TPC), the only utility in Taiwan, submitted an application for operating one reactor unit at a non-rated power level without changing the total rod power burnups in order to extend the operation period before next refueling outage. Since this was the first application, the Taiwan nuclear safety authority, Atomic Energy Council (AEC), thoroughly reviewed the impacts of the strategy by referring to the documents of flexible power operation experiences on nuclear power plants by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the US Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). TPC plans to submit more applications to AEC in the near future. Both regulatory and operating experience feedbacks are important, since which are all good indicators to reflect whether the safety issues involved have been evaluated and/or the corresponding measures have been taken, if necessary.