An economics figure of merit in ALPS
One of the most pressing issues facing the deregulated nuclear electric power industry is its economic competitiveness when compared to other sources of electrical power. Traditionally, finding the optimum loading pattern (LP) that meets all the safety and operational objective functions and at the same time produces the most attractive economical solutions is an iterative process. This is because (a) LP search tools usually lack the capability to generate equilibrium solutions and (b) economics objective functions are hard to include in the search process. In this paper, the Westinghouse Advanced Loading Pattern Search code (ALPS) has been demonstrated to successfully find LPs that meet user-defined operational and safety as well as economics objectives. This has been made possible by the development of TULIP language that allows the integration of external procedures into the search process of the main program, ALPS. In the example given, an economic figure of merit (EFM) has been defined and included via TULIP script into the fuel management optimization problem of a three-loop Westinghouse core operating an 18-month cycle. The LPs found by ALPS exhibit a clear trend of meeting and, in some cases, exceeding the EFM objective function defined for the ALPS search process a priori.
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20104494
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 82; Conference: 2000 Annual Meeting - American Nuclear Society, San Diego, CA (US), 06/04/2000--06/08/2000; Other Information: PBD: 2000; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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