Stability Analysis of an Accelerator-Driven Fluid-Fueled Subcritical Reactor System

In this work, linear dynamics of a circulating fluid-fueled subcritical reactor system with temperature feedback and external neutron source was modeled and examined. In a circulating fluid-fuel system, the stable region is slightly moved by a circulation fluid effect. The effects of subcriticality and temperature feedback coefficient on the reactor stability were tested by calculating frequency response of neutron density originated from reactivity perturbation or external source oscillation of system. The amplitude transfer function has a different shape near subcritical region due to the exponential term in the transfer function. The results of the study show that at a slightly subcritical region, low frequency oscillation in accelerator current or reactivity can be amplified depending on the temperature feedback. However, as the subcriticality increases, the oscillation becomes negligible regardless of the magnitude of the temperature feedback coefficient.