An Investigation of Power Stabilization and Space-Dependent Dynamics of a Nuclear Fluidized-Bed Reactor

Journal Article · Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2003 · Nuclear Science and Engineering

OSTI ID:20804868

Pain, Christopher C ^[1]; Eaton, Matthew D ^[1]; Umpleby, Adrian P ^[1]; Ziver, Kemal ^[1]; Ackroyd, Ron T ^[1]; Miles, Bryan ^[1]; Goddard, Antony J.H. ^[1]; Dam, H van ^[2]; Lathouwers, D ^[2]

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1. Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (United Kingdom)
2. Delft University of Technology (Netherlands)

Previous work into the space-dependent kinetics of the conceptual nuclear fluidized bed has highlighted the sensitivity of fission power to particle movements within the bed. The work presented in this paper investigates a method of stabilizing the fission power by making it less sensitive to fuel particle movement. Steady-state neutronic calculations are performed to obtain a suitable design that is stable to radial and axial fuel particle movements in the bed. Detailed spatial/temporal simulations performed using the finite element transient criticality (FETCH) code investigate the dynamics of the new reactor design. A dual requirement of the design is that it has a moderate power output of {approx}300 MW(thermal)

• OSTI ID: 20804868
• Journal Information: Nuclear Science and Engineering, Vol. 144, Issue 3; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2006 American Nuclear Society (ANS), United States, All rights reserved. http://epubs.ans.org/; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0029-5639
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
CRITICALITY
DESIGN
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
FISSION
FLUIDIZED BED REACTORS
FUEL PARTICLES
KINETICS
PARTICLES
SENSITIVITY
SIMULATION
SPACE DEPENDENCE
STABILIZATION
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
TRANSIENTS