Deep Learning Technology Used to Detect Cracks in Nuclear Reactors
A new system relies on Deep Learning in order to identify cracks in nuclear reactors.
Carbon Nanotubes Improve Metal’s Radiation Tolerance
The intense radiation that nuclear reactors produce can make the reactor's metal porous and brittle, which leads to cracking and failure. An international team of engineers has discovered an inexpensive solutio... Read More...
Robots Can’t Handle the Intense Radiation at Fukushima
Five years after the nuclear power plant disaster at Fukushima, the radiation is still so intense that even robots can’t survive certain areas of the site. Ever since a devastating 2011 earthquake triggered a t... Read More...
German Researchers Debut Giant Nuclear Reactor
German scientists are about to turn on a nuclear fusion machine that has the potential to unlock a new clean, safe, and abundant power source. Engineers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics spend 1.1 million working hours building the machine, called the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X).
Eliminating the Need for Exclusion Zones in Nuclear Power Plants: Part 2
The use of exclusion zones to keep wireless transmission devices (WTDs) (e.g., radio walkie-talkies, cellular phones, etc) from being too close to instrumentation and control (I&C) equipment and system cabinets containing this equipment remains a primary concern in existing and advanced (future) nuclear power plants. In Part 1 of this article, a background and history of how exclusion zones were developed and implemented in these plants was presented along with their advantages and limitations. In Part 2, presented here, the elements of the exclusion zone strategy are discussed followed by the demonstration of a concept often used in studying the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) immunity of modern electronic systems. This concept—called layered immunity—is key to understanding the parts of a system where EMC system immunity must be applied. The initial thought that readers must accept before proceeding to read and understand this concept described in this article is that system immunity involves other parts of the system besides just the immunity of the individual piece of equipment requiring protection.