• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.1665-1670
• /
• 2023

It is shown that in the IBR-2M reactor by the end of the reactor cycle, changes in dynamics are observed associated with a strong weakening of the fast power feedback (PF), as a result of which the reactor becomes oscillatorily unstable. After each week of zero-power operation the negative changes in reactor dynamics disappear and the stability of the reactor is restored. Thus, the reactor undergoes cyclic changes in the oscillatory instability. The correlation between of a fast PF and a slow PF is experimentally observed, which makes it possible to almost completely eliminate the cyclic component of instability by changing the control mode of rods of the control system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.1540-1553
• /
• 2019

A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a highly complex system-of-systems as manifested through its internal systems interdependence. The negative impact of such interdependence was demonstrated through the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. As such, there is a critical need for new strategies to overcome the limitations of current risk assessment techniques (e.g. the use of static event and fault tree schemes), particularly through simulation of the nonlinear dynamic feedback mechanisms between the different NPP systems/components. As the first and key step towards developing an integrated NPP dynamic probabilistic risk assessment platform that can account for such feedback mechanisms, the current study adopts a system dynamics simulation approach to model the thermal dynamic processes in: the reactor core; the secondary coolant system; and the pressurized water reactor. The reactor core and secondary coolant system parameters used to develop system dynamics models are based on those of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. These three system dynamics models are subsequently validated, using results from published work, under different system perturbations including the change in reactivity, the steam valve coefficient, the primary coolant flow, and others. Moving forward, the developed system dynamics models can be integrated with other interacting processes within a NPP to form the basis of a dynamic system-level (systemic) risk assessment tool.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.887-895
• /
• 2017

Preliminary results of the dynamic analysis of a two-fluid molten-salt breeder reactor (MSBR) system are presented. Based on an earlier work on the preliminary dynamic model of the concept, the model presented here is nonlinear and has been revised to accurately reflect the design exemplified in ORNL-4528. A brief overview of the model followed by results from simulations performed to validate the model is presented. Simulations illustrate stable behavior of the reactor dynamics and temperature feedback effects to reactivity excursions. Stable and smooth changes at various nodal temperatures are also observed. Control strategies for molten-salt reactor operation are discussed, followed by an illustration of the open-loop load-following capability of the molten-salt breeder reactor system. It is observed that the molten-salt breeder reactor system exhibits "self-regulating" behavior, minimizing the need for external controller action for load-following maneuvers.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.9
• /
• pp.3326-3333
• /
• 2023

The results of the analysis of a mathematical modeling for the IBR-2M pulsed reactor dynamics for a transition from a power pulse repetition frequency of 5 Hz-10 Hz are presented. The change in the amplitude response of the reactor for variable pulse delayed neutron fraction was studied. We used a set of power feedback parameters determined experimentally in 2021 at an energy output of 1820 MW·day. At a pulse repetition frequency of 10 Hz, the amplitude of pulse energy oscillations significantly depends on the value of the delayed neutron fraction in pulse β_p. Depending on β_p both suppression and amplification of reactor power fluctuations in the frequency ranges of 0.05-0.20 and 1.25-5.00 Hz can be realized.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.30 no.8 s.251
• /
• pp.818-824
• /
• 2006

The hydrodynamic performance analysis of an axial-flow main coolant pump for the modular nuclear reactor has been carried out using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The prediction capability of the CFD software adopted in the present study was validated in comparison with the experimental data. Predicted performance curves agree satisfactorily well with the experimental results for the main coolant pump over the normal operating range. π Ie prediction method presented herein can be used effectively as a tool for the hydrodynamic design optimization and assist the understanding of the operational characteristics of general purpose axial-flow pumps.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.148-156
• /
• 2015

Several vendors have recently been actively pursuing the development of integral pressurized water reactors (iPWRs) that range in power levels from small to large reactors. Integral reactors have the features of minimum vessel penetrations, passive heat removal after reactor shutdown, and modular construction that allow fast plant integration and a secure fuel cycle. The features of an integral reactor limit the options for placing control and safety system instruments. The development of instrumentation and control (I&C) strategies for a large 1,000 MWe iPWR is described. Reactor system modeling-which includes reactor core dynamics, primary heat exchanger, and the steam flashing drum-is an important part of I&C development and validation, and thereby consolidates the overall implementation for a large iPWR. The results of simulation models, control development, and instrumentation features illustrate the systematic approach that is applicable to integral light water reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.8
• /
• pp.2835-2843
• /
• 2023

After an emergency shutdown of a lead-bismuth fast reactor, thermal stratification occurs in the upper Plenum, which negatively impacts the integrity of the reactor structure and the residual heat removal capacity of natural circulation flow. The research on thermal stratification of reactors has mainly been conducted using an experimental method, a system program, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). However, the equipment required for the experimental method is expensive, accuracy of the system program is unpredictable, and resources and time required for the CFD approach are extensive. To overcome the defects of thermal stratification analysis, a high-precision full-order thermal stratification model based on CFD technology is prepared in this study. Furthermore, a reduced-order model has been developed by combining proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) with Galerkin projection. A comparative analysis of thermal stratification with the proposed full-order model reveals that the reduced-order thermal stratification model can well simulate the temperature distribution in the upper plenum and rapidly elucidate the thermal stratification interface characteristics during the lead-bismuth fast reactor accident. Overall, this study provides an analytical tool for determining the thermal stratification mechanism and reducing thermal stratification.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.41 no.7
• /
• pp.929-944
• /
• 2009

The present study is concerned with the extension of the Effective Convectivity Model (ECM) to the phase-change problem to simulate the dynamics of the melt pool formation in a Light Water Reactor (LWR) lower plenum during hypothetical severe accident progression. The ECM uses heat transfer characteristic velocities to describe turbulent natural convection of a melt pool. The simple approach of the ECM method allows implementing different models of the characteristic velocity in a mushy zone for non-eutectic mixtures. The Phase-change ECM (PECM) was examined using three models of the characteristic velocities in a mushy zone and its performance was compared. The PECM was validated using a dual-tier approach, namely validations against existing experimental data (the SIMECO experiment) and validations against results obtained from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The results predicted by the PECM implementing the linear dependency of mushy-zone characteristic velocity on fluid fraction are well agreed with the experimental correlation and CFD simulation results. The PECM was applied to simulation of melt pool formation heat transfer in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) and Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) lower plenum. The study suggests that the PECM is an adequate and effective tool to compute the dynamics of core melt pool formation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2000.06a
• /
• pp.679-686
• /
• 2000

Reactor Noise is defined as the fluctuations of measured instrumentation signals during full-power operation of reactor which have informations on reactor system dynamics such as neutron kinetics, thermal-hydraulics, and structural dynamics. Reactor noise analyses of ex-core neutron detector signals have been performed to monitor the vibration modes of reactor internals such as fuel assembly and Core Support Barrel in Yonggwang 3&4 Nuclear Power Plant. A real time mode separation technique have been developed and applied for the analyses. It has been found that the first vibration mode frequency of the fuel assembly was around 2.5 Hz, the beam and shell mode frequencies of CSB(Core Support Barrel) 8 Hz and 14.5 Hz, respectively. Also the analyses data base have been constructed for the continuous monitoring and diagnose of the reactor internals.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.243-256
• /
• 2011

This paper considers the concept of analog computing based on a cellular neural network (CNN) paradigm to simulate nuclear reactor dynamics using a time-dependent second order form of the neutron transport equation. Instead of solving nuclear reactor dynamic equations numerically, which is time-consuming and suffers from such weaknesses as vulnerability to transient phenomena, accumulation of round-off errors and floating-point overflows, use is made of a new method based on a cellular neural network. The state-of-the-art shows the CNN as being an alternative solution to the conventional numerical computation method. Indeed CNN is an analog computing paradigm that performs ultra-fast calculations and provides accurate results. In this study use is made of the CNN model to simulate the space-time response of scalar flux distribution in steady state and transient conditions. The CNN model also is used to simulate step perturbation in the core. The accuracy and capability of the CNN model are examined in 2D Cartesian geometry for two fixed source problems, a mini-BWR assembly, and a TWIGL Seed/Blanket problem. We also use the CNN model concurrently for a typical small PWR assembly to simulate the effect of temperature feedback, poisons, and control rods on the scalar flux distribution.