On the neutron noise diagnostics of Pressurized Water Reactor control rod vibrations. Application at a power plant

Journal Article · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Nucl. Sci. Eng.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6564461

Pazsit, I ^[1]; Glockler, O ^[2]

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1. Studsvik Energiteknik AB, S-611 82 Nykoping (SE)
2. Univ. of Tennessee, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Knoxville, TN (US)

In the first two papers of this series, a complete algorithm was elaborated and tested for the diagnostics of vibrating control rods in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). Although the method was thoroughly tested in numerical experiments where even the effects of background noise were accounted for, the influence of the several approximations regarding the underlying neutron physical and mechanical model of the applicability of the method in real applications could not be properly estimated. In August 1985, in-core self-powered neutron detector spectra taken at Paks-2, a PWR in Hungary, indicated the presence of an excessively vibrating control rod. With these measured noise data as input, the previously reported localization algorithm was applied in its original form. The algorithm singled out one control rod out of the possible seven, and independent investigations performed before and during the subsequent refueling showed the correctness of the localization results. It is therefore concluded that, at least in this particular application, the approximations used in the model were allowable in a case of practical interest. The algorithm was developed further to facilitate the automatization and reliability of the localization procedure. These developments and the experiences in the application of the algorithm are reported in this paper.

• OSTI ID: 6564461
• Journal Information: Nucl. Sci. Eng.; (United States), Journal Name: Nucl. Sci. Eng.; (United States) Vol. 99:4; ISSN NSENA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
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Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220400 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Control Systems
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ALGORITHMS
AUTOMATION
BARYONS
CONTROL ROD DRIVES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
HADRONS
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR NOISE
REACTOR SAFETY EXPERIMENTS
REACTORS
RELIABILITY
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS