Automatic determination of pressurized water reactor core loading patterns that maximize beginning-of-cycle reactivity within power-peaking and burnup constraints
Computational capability has been developed to automatically determine a good estimate of the core loading pattern, which minimizes fuel cycle costs for a pressurized water reactor (PWR). Equating fuel cycle cost minimization with core reactivity maximization, the objective is to determine the loading pattern that maximizes core reactivity while satisfying power peaking, discharge burnup, and other constraints. The method utilizes a two-dimensional, coarse-mesh, finite difference scheme to evaluate core reactivity and fluxes for an initial reference loading pattern. First-order perturbation theory is applied to determine the effects of assembly shuffling on reactivity, power distribution, end-of-cycle burnup. Monte Carlo integer programming is then used to determine a near-optimal loading pattern within a range of loading patterns near the reference pattern. The process then repeats with the new loading pattern as the reference loading pattern and terminates when no better loading pattern can be determined. The process was applied with both reactivity maximization and radial power-peaking minimization as objectives. Results on a typical large PWR indicate that the cost of obtaining an 8% improvement in radial power-peaking margin is approx. =2% in fuel cycle costs, for the reload core loaded without burnable poisons that was studied.
- Research Organization:
- North Carolina State Univ., Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, P.O. Box 7909, Raleigh, NC 27695-7909
- OSTI ID:
- 5043850
- Journal Information:
- Nucl. Technol.; (United States), Vol. 74:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Employing nodal generalized perturbation theory for the minimization of feed enrichment during pressurized water reactor in-core nuclear fuel management optimization
FORMOSA-B: A boiling water reactor in-core fuel management optimization package
Related Subjects
BURNUP
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
FUEL CYCLE
COST
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR FUELING
REACTIVITY
FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD
MONTE CARLO METHOD
PEAK LOAD
PERTURBATION THEORY
POWER DISTRIBUTION
REACTOR CORES
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
ITERATIVE METHODS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
210200* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled