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A novel formulation of the dependence of the total cross section for the photon-nucleus interaction on photon energy and target mass number is proposed and used to obtain the photofission channel width rF for 238U in the quasideuteron energy range. Comparison with experiments and with different calculations show that the formalism used is quite adequate to explain the generally assumed trend of rF against energy and mass number in this peculiar energy region.NUCLEAR REACTION 238U ( y , Fission), 40 M e V s E,< 80 MeV; calculated total cross section, uT, and fission channel width, rF. Comparison with experimental and calculated values of rF for different interaction models.

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This paper proposes a set of indicators to quantify the impact of conventional thermal generating unit cycling on its non-fuel variable costs (NFVC) due to generation mix changes in the system. A novel iterative cost adjustment framework is developed to evaluate the proposed indicators in order to assess the impacts of increasing installation of renewable resources on operation costs of the thermal units. The proposed framework allows private investors to estimate NFVC using a minimum level of information without a full knowledge of the system parameters. Additionally, the proposed framework is kept generic, which supports the NFVC adjustment for the conventional thermal units in a changing market environment. The impact of accelerated solar photovoltaic penetration on cycling and operational costs of existing thermal power plants in the Chilean power system is assessed using the indicators and methodology developed. The results suggest that natural gas driven peaking power plants are more susceptible to experiencing increased NFVC from solar photovoltaic growth than coal fired base load power plants.

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