Nuclear fuel failure protection method
AssigneeWestnghouse Electric Company LLC
InventorsMichael D. Heibel, Jorge V. Carvajal, Shawn C. Stafford, Jeffrey L. Arndt
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Abstract
A method that provides a more direct indication of peak fuel rod centerline temperature and peak fuel rod clad temperature than conventionally inferred from the power distribution by directly and continuously measuring the fuel temperatures of the fuel pellets in one or more of the hottest fuel elements in the core. The peak fuel rod clad temperature is then obtained from the maximum measured peak fuel rod centerline temperature in combination with the maximum coolant core exit temperature and the minimum coolant flow rate.
Claims14
A method of determining a maximum measured internal fuel rod temperature and a peak clad temperature of one or more of fuel rods in an operating nuclear core comprising the steps of:
- directly measuring the temperatures at one or more locations within the one or more of the fuel rods;
- identifying a hottest temperature within the one or more fuel rods as the maximum measured internal fuel rod temperature and a core location where the hottest temperature is measured;
- measuring the maximum temperature of coolant exiting the core at the core location where the hottest temperature is measured and the minimum flow rate of the coolant;
- and
- determining the peak clad temperature from the maximum measured internal fuel rod temperature, the maximum temperature of the coolant exiting the core at the core location where the hottest temperature is measured and the minimum flow rate of the coolant.
A system to determine a maximum measured internal fuel rod temperature and a peak clad temperature of one or more of fuel rods in an operating nuclear core, the system comprising:
- sensors disposed in one or more of the fuel rods and being structured to directly measure the temperatures at one or more locations within the one or more of the fuel rods;
- an instrument thimble disposed outside the one or more fuel rods and being structured to receive the measured temperatures from the sensors;
- signal processing elements structured to receive the measured temperatures from the sensors and to:
- identify a hottest temperature within the one or more fuel rods as the maximum measured internal fuel rod temperature and a core location where the hottest temperature is measured,
- receive a measured maximum temperature of coolant exiting the core at the core location where the hottest temperature is measured and the minimum flow rate of the coolant, and
- determine the peak clad temperature from the maximum measured internal fuel rod temperature, the maximum temperature of the coolant exiting the core at the core location where the hottest temperature is measured and the minimum flow rate of the coolant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.