Stability of fissile solution systems - 14614
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1660, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)
A Dynamic System Simulation (DSS) has been developed for aqueous homogenous reactors (AHR) and subcritical accelerator-driven system employing fissile solution fuel. These models are comprised of coupled non-linear differential equations describing the neutronics, thermal hydraulic and radiolytic gas behavior in the time domain. Models of specific historic AHR, SUPO (Super Power), KEWB (Kinetics Experiment Water Boiler), and SILENE exhibit close agreement with experimental data in all operating modes including steady-state, ramp and step reactivity insertions. The set of non-linear equations have been utilized to generate a generic transfer function for this class of systems. Output from specific DSS models operating at steady-state is then utilized as input parameters into a transfer function specific to each. Traditional Bode amplitude and phase, Nyquist and Nichols plots, are then generated to examine stability. Results for SUPO and a generic accelerator-driven system suggest these systems are unconditionally stable in the linear approximation. This treatment offers a method to examine the physics and time-based evolution of a critical excursion in a fissile solution system and provides a means to examine the severity of the consequence. This approach provides insight into the characteristics of such and even and sensitivity to materials involved and configuration of the physical system. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 23100969
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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