Embedding nuclear physics rules and fuel chemistry limits in control algorithms for a fuel-efficient nuclear reactor Online publication date: Tue, 24-Jul-2007
by Shantanu Das, Bibhuranjan Basudeb Biswas
International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy and Ecology (IJNGEE), Vol. 1, No. 3, 2007
Abstract: In a nuclear reactor, the energy which is stored in the fuel is proportional to the amount of fissile material. The consumption of that amount, after a set burn-up, should and must result in delivering a set energy, barring leakages (losses). The loss of energy due to an inefficient control algorithm, after a set burn-up, is a problem that no one has yet addressed. Nuclear fuel chemists and metallurgists may have a given amount of fuel with a set energy content, but control system engineers, treating a nuclear reactor as a conventional PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) control system, use lots of control energy to stabilise the nuclear reactor power and also thereby consume 'unnecessary' fuel energy. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to basic neutronic behaviour of a nuclear reactor and to control it in its natural physics instead of treating it as a conventional PID.
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