Analysis and Prospect of the Duplex Fuel Pellets of LOWI Type for Water-Cooled Reactors

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songyang Li ◽  
Dingqu Wang ◽  
Wenli Guo ◽  
Yueyuan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Power Density ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Safety Margin ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Mechanical Analysis ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Fuel Pellets ◽  
Thermal Calculations ◽  
Fuel Design ◽  
The Cost

The duplex pellets under a “Low-Interact” (LOWI) nuclear fuel design, which consist of an outer enriched annulus and a depleted or natural core, can provide lower center temperature and reduced probability of pellet-clad mechanical interact (PCMI). Analysis and experiments were done in 1970s to examine the benefits and cost of LOWI design for water-cooled reactors. Results showed that the additional economic cost of this design should not be neglected in spite of the benefits. However, due to the improvement of nuclear fuel fabrication technology in the past 30 years, the benefits of LOWI design become more significant, especially when the potential of other methods to elevate the power density and overcome the constraints on ramp rates in power reactors is running out. In order to evaluate the feasibility of deploying the LOWI fuel in commercial and research reactors, neutronics and thermal calculations are made to figure out the performance of duplex UO2 pellets in particular reactors. It is shown that the center temperature of pellet has been greatly reduced without any change on assembly and core geometry, which means the opportunity of less fission gas production, higher power density and more adequate safety margin. A mechanical analysis of a typical LOWI design is also done. The challenges on duplex pellet manufacture are also discussed. Several fabrication techniques are presented to show the potential of cutting the cost of pellet production.

The Cost of Being ‘Backward’ in India: Socio-religious Discrimination in the Labour Market

2021 ◽  
pp. 097370302110296
Author(s):  
Soumyajit Chakraborty ◽  
Alok K. Bohara
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Capital Endowment ◽  
Scheduled Castes ◽  
Sample Survey Data ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Human Capital Endowment

Being from backward castes, classes and Muslims in India has an economic cost associated with the nature of institutional discrimination. Using the 2011–2012 National Sample Survey data, this study identifies that caste and religion still rule the modern Indian labour market. We find that discrimination is evident in the socio-religious earnings gaps. While the parametric decompositions suggest that most of these gaps are due to differential human capital endowment, the nonparametric method almost evenly attributes inequality to discrimination and endowment. The results presented in this study suggest that discrimination against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Muslims and Other Backward Classes should be included in policy designs to promote equity in the Indian labour market.

scholarly journals A cost analysis to address issues of budget constraints on the implementation of the indoor residual spray programme in two districts of Maputo Province, Mozambique

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neide Canana
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Financial Analysis ◽  
Indoor Residual Spraying ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Financial Cost ◽  
Provider Perspective ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Cost

Abstract Background It is frequently said that funding is essential to ensure optimal results from a malaria intervention control. However, in recent years, the capacity of the government of Mozambique to sustain the operational cost of indoor residual spraying (IRS) is facing numerous challenges due to restrictions of the Official Development Assistance. The purpose of the study was to estimate the cost of IRS operationalization in two districts of Maputo Province (Matutuíne and Namaacha) in Mozambique. The evidence produced in this study intends to provide decision-makers with insight into where they need to pay close attention in future planning in order to operationalize IRS with the existent budget in the actual context of budget restrictions. Methods Cost information was collected retrospectively from the provider perspective, and both economic and financial costs were calculated. A “one-way” deterministic sensitivity analysis was performed. Results The average economic costs totaled US$117,351.34, with an average economic cost per household sprayed of US$16.35, and an average economic cost per person protected of US$4.09. The average financial cost totaled US$69,174.83, with an average financial cost per household sprayed and per person protected of US$9.84 and US$2.46, respectively. Vehicle, salary, and insecticide costs were the greatest contributors to overall cost in the economic and financial analysis, corresponding to 52%, 17%, and 13% in the economic analysis and 21%, 27%, and 22% in the financial analysis, respectively. The sensitivity analysis was adapted to a range of ± (above and under) 25% change. There was an approximate change of 14% in the average economic cost when vehicle costs were decreased by 25%. In the financial analysis, the average financial cost was lowered by 7% when salary costs were decreased by 25%. Conclusions Altogether, the current cost analysis provides an impetus for the consideration of targeted IRS operationalization within the available governmental budget, by using locally-available human resources as spray operators to decrease costs and having IRS rounds be correctly timed to coincide with the build-up of vector populations.

At what cost is performance-based financing implemented? Novel evidence from Malawi

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 282-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela De Allegri ◽  
Chris Makwero ◽  
Aleksandra Torbica
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Personnel Cost ◽  
Cost Category ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Personnel Costs ◽  
Performance Based Financing ◽  
Implementation Costs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Low Income Setting

Abstract Our study estimated the full economic cost of implementing performance-based financing [PBF, the Support for Service Delivery Integration Performance-Based Incentives (SSDI-PBI) programme], as a means of first introducing strategic purchasing in a low-income setting, Malawi. Our analysis distinguished design from implementation costs and traces costs across personnel and non-personnel cost categories over the 2012–15 period. The full cost of the SSDI-PBI programme amounted to USD 3 402 187, equivalent to USD 6.46 per targeted beneficiary. The design phase accounted for about one-third (USD 1 161 332) of the total costs, while the incentives (USD 1 140 436) represented about one-third of the total cost of the intervention and about half the cost of the implementation phase. With a cost of USD 1 605 178, personnel costs represented the dominant cost category. Our study indicated that the introduction of PBF entailed consumption of a substantial amount of resources, hence representing an important opportunity cost for the health system.

Mechanical Analysis of Warm Extrusion Precision Forming on 42CrMo Steel Cutting Pick

2012 ◽  
Vol 538-541 ◽  
pp. 1061-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Jian Su ◽  
Quan Lan Li ◽  
Lin Jing Xiao ◽  
Su Min Guo
Keyword(s):  
New Technology ◽  
Mechanical Analysis ◽  
Extrusion Force ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
42Crmo Steel ◽  
Pick Body ◽  
Mining Tool ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Warm Extrusion

Cutting pick is a kind of widely-used consumptive mining tool. The traditional producing technics of cutting pick body is foundry, or machining after roughly forging, or machining directly from metal bar. By former technics, the property of products is poor, and by latter, the material availability is low and the cost is high. The patent technology for cutting pick body warm extrusion introduced in this paper can overcome all the disadvantages mentioned above. In this paper, by analyzing the characteristic of cutting pick body warm extrusion, adopting the principle of power balance to solve the approximate solution of strain forces, the approximate calculating formulas of extruding power are deduced. The main factors affecting on extrusion force are determined theoretically. This research can be used as basis to design tooling and choose proper equipment for this new technology.

Wells for welfare or illfare? Cost of groundwater depletion in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Water Policy ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Palanisami ◽  
A. Vidhyavathi ◽  
C. R. Ranganathan
Keyword(s):  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Groundwater Depletion ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Watershed Development ◽  
Groundwater Overdraft ◽  
Well Spacing ◽  
Coimbatore District ◽  
Tamil Nadu State ◽  
The Cost

Groundwater depletion is experienced in several districts of Tamil Nadu state and Coimbatore district is heading in that direction. The average well failure rate is 47% for open wells and 9% for bore wells. The total cost of depletion for new wells varies from Rs 1,999 per ha to Rs 90,975 per ha. The electricity subsidy to the farmers has varied from Rs 22,621 per ha for coconut growers to Rs 25,498 per ha for banana growers as on 2004. The cost of irrigation per cubic metre (m3) is less on large farms. The average net return with free electricity varies from Rs 0.14 per m3 to Rs 1.38 per m3 and is drastically reduced when electricity is priced at an economic cost, i.e. Rs −1.15 to Rs −0.14 per m3. The shift in cropping pattern towards high value crops helped the farmers to some extent to bear the cost of externalities arising out of depletion. The social cost caused by groundwater overdraft is about Rs 554.3 million, which may increase when the well density increases further. Suggested policy options are to change the cropping pattern to less water-consuming crops, to invest in watershed development activities, to change inefficient pumpsets and to adopt well spacing norms.

Identification of Non-Linear Vibration Parameters of a Nuclear Fuel Rod

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Amabili ◽  
Prabakaran Balasubramanian ◽  
Giovanni Ferrari ◽  
Stanislas Le Guisquet ◽  
Kostas Karazis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Harmonic Balance Method ◽  
Resonance Phenomenon ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Fuel Rods ◽  
Fuel Rod ◽  
Fuel Pellets ◽  
Safety Margins ◽  
Fuel Assemblies ◽  
Non Linear

In Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR), fuel assemblies are composed of fuel rods, long slender tubes filled with uranium pellets, bundled together using spacer grids. These structures are subjected to fluid-structure interactions, due to the flowing coolant surrounding the fuel assemblies inside the core, coupled with large-amplitude vibrations in case of external seismic excitation. Therefore, understanding the non-linear response of the structure and, particularly, its dissipation, is of paramount importance for the choice of safety margins. To model the nonlinear dynamic response of fuel rods, the identification of nonlinear stiffness and damping parameters is required. The case of a single fuel rod with clamped-clamped boundary conditions was investigated by applying harmonic excitation at various force levels. Different configurations were implemented testing the fuel rod in air and in still water; the effect of metal pellets simulating nuclear fuel pellets inside the rods was also recorded. Non-linear parameters were extracted from some of the experimental response curves by means of a numerical tool based on the harmonic balance method. The axisymmetric geometry of fuel rods resulted in the presence of a one-to-one internal resonance phenomenon, which has to be taken into account modifying accordingly the numerical identification tool. The internal motion of fuel pellets is a cause of friction and impacts, complicating further the linear and non-linear dynamic behavior of the system. An increase of the equivalent viscous-based modal damping with excitation amplitude is often shown during geometrically non-linear vibrations, thus confirming previous experimental findings in the literature.

scholarly journals Cost analysis of manual bund shaping in paddy fields: Economical and physiological

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 181-189
Author(s):  
Ritesh Ranjan ◽  
Prabhanjan Kumar Pranav
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Maximal Exercise ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Maximum Volume ◽  
Physiological Cost ◽  
Expenditure Rate ◽  
Maximum Aerobic Capacity ◽  
The Cost

Bund shaping is one of the essential operations in preparing a paddy transplanting field. This operation is undertaken manually by spades in a traditional way as this has not been mechanised thus far. Therefore, this study was conducted to expose this operation by evaluating the economic, as well as physiological, cost involved in the bund shaping. For the economic cost, the study was conducted in nine different districts of Assam (India). The bund length for the estimated area was measured and estimated for one ha of land. The average rate of manual bund shaping was also measured to calculate the cost involved in this operation. Moreover, for the physiological cost, ten experienced subjects were calibrated and measured for their maximum aerobic capacity by sub-maximal exercise in laboratory condition. Furthermore, the heart rate was measured during the manual bund shaping and was then correlated with the calibrated data. It was found that the average required bund shaping length per ha was 3 669 m which was associated with a cost of 2 062.8 rupees. It was found that the bund shaping consumed 76.96% of the maximum volume of the oxygen consumption capacity of the subjects; however, the energy expenditure rate with respect to time and bund length were 7.37 kcal·min<sup>–1</sup> and 4.33 kcal·m<sup>–1</sup>, respectively. Hence, bund shaping in a paddy field comes under a severe workload category which emphasises the need of mechanisation for the bund shaping operation.

scholarly journals GnRH Antagonist Versus Modified Prolonged GnRH Agonist Protocol in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): Analysis Using Propensity Score Matching

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leizhen Xia ◽  
Lifeng Tian ◽  
Jun Tan ◽  
Shanshan Zhang ◽  
Qiong-Fang Wu
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Live Birth ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
Gnrh Antagonist ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Live Birth Rate ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Severe Ohss

Abstract Background: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have been reported with low pregnancy rate and high OHSS risk in in vitro fertilization (IVF) programs due to the decreased endometrial receptivity and high ovarian reserve. The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness, safety and economic cost of GnRH antagonist (GnRH-ant) and modified prolonged GnRH agonist (mGnRH-a) protocol in PCOS patients.Methods: This study was a retrospective cohort study that included 2164 women with (PCOS) undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment from January 2014 to April 2019. Among them, 2018 women received mGnRH-a treatment and 146 women received GnRH antagonist (GnRH-ant) treatment. The two groups were matched by propensity scores with a ratio of 1:4 (GnRH-ant versus mGnRH-a) accounting for potential confounding factors. The primary outcomes were the live birth rate (LBR), incidence of moderate-to-severe OHSS and the cost of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH). LBR was defined as live birth per started treatment cycle after first fresh or frozen embryo transfer.Results: Women with the mGnRH-a protocol had an increased endometrial thickness on HCG injection day, compared with GnRH-ant protocol (10.84 vs. 9.62, P<0.001), furthermore, the number of transferable embryos on day 3 (7 vs. 5, P=0.022), clinical pregnancy rate (67.81% vs. 52.74%, P=0.0007), implantation rate (56.05%, vs. 43.44%, P<0.001) and live birth rate (58.22% vs. 41.78%, P=0.0004) were also significantly higher in the mGnRH-a protocol group. However, there were no significant differences in the incidence of moderate-to-severe OHSS (4.28% vs. 2.05%, P=0.333), the incidence of severe OHSS (0.17% vs. 0%, P=1) and the cost of COH (RMB: 7736.9 vs. 8046.54, P=0.113). Conclusion: The mGnRH-a protocol has a higher live birth rate than GnRH-ant protocol with the similar safety and economic cost among infertile women with PCOS.

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