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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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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
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Jin Jiang, Chao Zhang, Binggang Cui (The Univ of Western Ontario)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1406-1415
Supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) has very unique characteristics which are very different from traditional nuclear power plants. Even though there are many advantages associated with this new technology, it does pose several unique circumstances that one has not encountered in traditional reactors. Major differences are: the higher power density; higher operating temperature and pressure; and lack of steam generator to isolate the reactor from balanced of the plant so that a load variation can back-propagated to the rector system. These unique characteristics call for advanced control systems to ensure safety and operational efficiency. In this paper, a Supercritical Fossil-fired Power Plant has been analyzed in terms of dynamic interactions among different parts of the plant, and also modes of operation. Differences between Supercritical Fossil-fired Power Plant and Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor based plant have been analyzed. The results of analysis have indicated that advanced coordination control systems have to be used in order to ensure safe operation of the reactor as well as the entire plant.
