Computer program for optimal BWR congtrol rod programming

Journal Article · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:186689

Taner, M S; Levine, S H ^[1]; Carmody, J M ^[2]

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1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
2. Peco Energy Company, Wayne, PA (United States); and others

A fully automated computer program has been developed for designing optimal control rod (CR) patterns for boiling water reactors (BWRs). The new program, called OCTOPUS-3, is based on the OCTOPUS code and employs SIMULATE-3 (Ref. 2) for the analysis. There are three aspects of OCTOPUS-3 that make it successful for use at PECO Energy. It incorporates a new feasibility algorithm that makes the CR design meet all constraints, it has been coupled to a Bourne Shell program 3 to allow the user to run the code interactively without the need for a manual, and it develops a low axial peak to extend the cycle. For PECO Energy Co.`s limericks it increased the energy output by 1 to 2% over the traditional PECO Energy design. The objective of the optimization in OCTOPUS-3 is to approximate a very low axial peaked target power distribution while maintaining criticality, keeping the nodal and assembly peaks below the allowed maximum, and meeting the other constraints. The user-specified input for each exposure point includes: CR groups allowed-to-move, target k{sub eff}, and amount of core flow. The OCTOPUS-3 code uses the CR pattern from the previous step as the initial guess unless indicated otherwise.

• OSTI ID: 186689
• Report Number(s): CONF-950601--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 72; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CONTROL ELEMENTS
CRITICALITY
LIMERICK-1 REACTOR
O CODES
POWER DISTRIBUTION