Reactivity modulation of a boiling water reactor to stabilize thermal-hydraulic instabilities
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRichard C. Stirn, Glen A. Watford
Life of this patent
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Abstract
To stabilize boiling water reactors against neutron flux oscillations caused by thermal-hydraulic instabilities, random core-wide reactivity perturbations are induced in the reactor either to suppress the onset of asymmetric (regional) mode oscillations or, in response to the detection of asymmetric mode oscillations, to stabilize the reactor in a symmetric (core-wide) oscillation mode. The reactivity perturbations are produced by effecting random changes in dome pressure, core flow or coolant enthalpy.
Claims20
A method for stabilizing a boiling water reactor against asymmetric mode neutron flux oscillations, said method comprising the steps of
- A. monitoring operating conditions of a reactor core;
- B. automatically subjecting the reactor to a series of core-wide reactivity perturbations random in frequency and duration to suppress asymmetric neutron flux oscillations when certain operating conditions are detected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.