FISSION REACTOR PHYSICS 1

Antonio Cammi
 2

Nuclear Reactor Dynamics

Dynamics of a simplified - lumped PWR (1) 3

Linearized
h neutron kinetics

Tf
Thermal
TIN Tc
Hydraulics
TOUT
 Linearized neutron kinetics (1) 4

 dn  −   
 dt =  n + C  n(t ) = n0 +  n(t )
 n0 = Co
 C (t ) = C0 +  C (t )  
 dC =  n − C   (t ) =  +  (t )   =0
 dt   0  0
 Linearized neutron kinetics (2) 5

𝑈=𝜚
𝑛
𝜓= 𝑑δ𝜓 𝛽 𝛽 δ𝜚 𝜓
𝑛0 = − δ𝜓 + δ𝜂 + 𝑋=
𝑑𝑡 Λ Λ Λ 𝜂
𝐶 𝑑δ𝜂
𝜂= = 𝜆δ𝜓 − 𝜆δ𝜂
𝐶0 𝑑𝑡 𝜓
𝑌=
𝜂
    1 0
−
A= 



C = 
  −   0 1 
𝛿 𝑋ሶ = Aδ𝑋 + 𝐵δ𝑈
ቊ 1
δ𝑌 = Cδ𝑋 + 𝐷δ𝑈 0
B=  D= 
 
0 0
Dynamics of a simplified - lumped PWR (1) 6

𝑑𝛿𝜓 𝛽 𝛽 𝛼𝑓 𝛼𝑐 𝛼ℎ
= − 𝛿𝜓 + 𝛿𝜂 + 𝛿𝑇𝑓 + 𝛿𝑇𝑐 + 𝛿ℎ
𝑑𝑡 𝛬 𝛬 𝛬 𝛬 𝛬
𝑑𝛿𝜂
= 𝜆𝛿𝜓 − 𝜆𝛿𝜂
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝛿𝑇𝑓 𝑃𝑜 1 1
= 𝛿𝜓 − 𝛿𝑇𝑓 + 𝛿𝑇𝑐
𝑑𝑡 𝐾𝜏𝑓 𝜏𝑓 𝜏𝑓
𝑑𝛿𝑇𝑐 1 2 1 2
= 𝛿𝑇𝑓 − + 𝛿𝑇𝑐 + 𝛿𝑇𝑖𝑛
𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝑐 𝜏𝑜 𝜏𝑐 𝜏0
𝛿𝜚= 𝛼𝑓 𝛿𝑇𝑓 + 𝛼𝑐 𝛿𝑇𝑐 +𝛼ℎ 𝛿ℎ
𝛿𝑇𝑂𝑈𝑇 = 2𝛿𝑇𝑐 − 𝛿𝑇𝑖𝑛
 Dynamics of a simplified - lumped PWR (2) 7

PWR on the state-space approach

𝜓
𝜓 𝜂
𝜂 ℎ 𝑇𝑓
𝑋= 𝑇 𝑈= 𝑌=
𝑓 𝑇𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑐
𝑇𝑐 𝑇𝑂𝑈𝑇
𝜚
Dynamics of a simplified - lumped PWR (3) 8
Dynamics of a simplified - lumped PWR (4) 9
Comments 10

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 11

Overview on GENIV
nuclear reactors
 Dynamics/Stability (1) 12

Gen IV reactors

Six innovative systems have been selected by the Generation IV International Forum [1] in
order to provide sustainable, safe and proliferation resistant nuclear energy production:

• The Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR);

• The Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR);

• The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR);

• The Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR);

• The Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR);

• The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR);

[1] GEN-IV International Forum, Annual Report 2016

 Dynamics/Stability (2) 13

Gen IV reactors: Neutronics model

The neutronics are described with the point kinetics equations:

In general, the reactivity ρ is given by the following relation:

Control rod reactivity Fuel Doppler feedback Coolant density feedback Axial expansion feedback Radial expansion feedback
 Dynamics/Stability (3) 14

Gen IV reactors: Thermal-hydraulics model

Reactor Primary circuit Intermediate circuit

𝑑𝑇𝑓 𝑑𝑇1 𝑖𝑛 1 𝑑𝑇2
𝑚𝑓 𝑐𝑓 = 𝑄ሶ − 𝐾𝑓𝑐 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑐 = 𝑇 − 𝑇1 𝑖𝑛 𝑚2 𝑐2 = 𝐾𝐼𝐻𝑋 𝑇1 − 𝑇2 − 𝛤2 𝑐2 𝑇2 𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇2 𝑖𝑛
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝐻𝐿 1 𝑐 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑇𝑐 𝑑𝑇1 𝑑𝑇𝑆𝐺 𝑖𝑛 1

𝑚𝑐 𝑐𝑐 = 𝐾𝑓𝑐 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑐 − 𝛤𝑐 𝑐𝑐 𝑇𝑐 𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑐 𝑖𝑛 𝑚1 𝑐𝑐 = −𝐾𝐼𝐻𝑋 𝑇1 − 𝑇2 − 𝛤𝑐 𝑐𝑐 𝑇1 𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇1 𝑖𝑛 = 𝑇 − 𝑇𝑆𝐺 𝑖𝑛
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝐻𝐿 2 2 𝑜𝑢𝑡

Molten Salt Reactor: only one 𝑑𝑇𝑐 𝑖𝑛 1 𝑑𝑇𝑆𝐺

= 𝑇 − 𝑇𝑐 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑆𝐺 𝑐2 = −𝐾𝑆𝐺 𝑇𝑆𝐺 − 𝑇𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛤2 𝑐2 𝑇𝑆𝐺 𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑆𝐺 𝑖𝑛
𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝐶𝐿 1 1 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑡
equation for the liquid fuel
𝑑𝑇2 𝑖𝑛 1
= 𝑇 − 𝑇2 𝑖𝑛
𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝐶𝐿 2 𝑆𝐺 𝑜𝑢𝑡

𝑑𝑇𝑓
𝑚𝑓 𝑐𝑓 = 𝑄ሶ − 𝛤𝑓 𝑐𝑓 𝑇𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑓 𝑖𝑛
𝑑𝑡
 Dynamics/Stability (4) 15

Gen IV reactors: Transfer functions

The transfer functions of the reactors are obtained by LINEARIZATION and LAPLACE TRANSFORMATION of
the above equations.
𝛿𝜓෨
𝑍 𝑠 =
𝛿𝜌෤𝑒𝑥𝑡
1
SFR, GFR, VHTR, LFR: neutronics 𝑠𝛬 + 𝛽 − σ6𝑖=1
𝜆𝑖 𝛽𝑖
𝑠 + 𝜆𝑖
=
1
1 − 𝑄ሶ 𝑜 𝛼𝐷 + 𝛼𝐴 𝐹𝑈𝐸𝐿 𝑠 + ሺ𝛼𝐶 + 𝛼𝑅 )𝐶𝑂𝑂𝐿𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝑠
𝜆𝑖 𝛽𝑖
𝑠𝛬 + 𝛽 − σ6𝑖=1
𝑠 + 𝜆𝑖

1
𝜆𝑖 𝛽𝑖 Thermal-hydraulics
𝑠𝛬 + 𝛽 − σ8𝑖=1
MSR: 𝑠 + 𝜆 +
1 − 𝑒 −𝜆𝑖 𝜏𝑒𝑐 feedback
𝛿𝜓 ෨ 𝑖 𝜏𝑐
𝑍 𝑠 = =
𝛿 𝜌෤𝑒𝑥𝑡 1 − 𝑄ሶ 1
𝑜 𝛼𝐹 𝐹𝑈𝐸𝐿 𝑠
𝜆𝑖 𝛽𝑖
𝑠𝛬 + 𝛽 − σ8𝑖=1
1 − 𝑒 −𝜆𝑖 𝜏𝑒𝑐
𝑠 + 𝜆𝑖 +
𝜏𝑐
 Dynamics/Stability (5) 16

Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor: Root Locus

Stand-alone reactor Reactor + Coolant Circuit

 Dynamics/Stability (6) 17

Gas-cooled Fast Reactor: Root Locus

Stand-alone reactor Reactor + Coolant Circuit

 Dynamics/Stability (7) 18

Lead-cooled Fast Reactor: Root Locus

Stand-alone reactor Reactor + Coolant Circuit

 Dynamics/Stability (8) 19

Molten-Salt Reactor: Root Locus

Stand-alone reactor Reactor + Coolant Circuit

 Dynamics/Stability (9) 20

Very High Temperature Reactor: Root Locus

Stand-alone reactor Reactor + Coolant Circuit

 Overview of Generation IV Systems (1) 21

Gen IV reactors
Six innovative systems have been selected by the Generation IV International Forum [1] in
order to provide sustainable, safe and proliferation resistant nuclear energy production:

• The Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR);

• The Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR);

• The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR);

• The Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR);

• The Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR);

• The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR);

[1] GEN-IV International Forum, Annual Report 2016

MSR: ZERO-POWER POINT KINETICS (1) 22
MSR: ZERO-POWER POINT KINETICS (2) 23

REACTIVITY
Variation of ρ0 as a function of the fuel COMPENSATION
velocity NEEDED TO
Increasing the fuel velocity: COUNTERBALANCE THE
ρ0→β(L-Lc)/L DECAY OF DELAYED
NEUTRON PRECURSORS
IN THE OUT-OF-CORE
PART OF THE PRIMARY
CIRCUIT
Variation of ρ0 as a function of the
Variation of ρ0 as a function of the length of the out-of-core part of the
core height (for different values of the primary circuit (for different values
fuel velocity) of the fuel velocity)
MSR: ZERO-POWER POINT KINETICS (3) 24

CIRCULATING FUEL STATIC FUEL

 Control (1) 25

Feedforward scheme of control (Open loop)

T0 h A(Tref – T0)
P
T
Tref
Controller Resistor Boiler
•
h P
W
A T= + T0  Tref
hA
• •
P
W P
W •  1 1 
 A = Tref − T = + T0 − P
− T0 = W  − 
hA hA  h A hA 
 Control (2) 26

Feedforward + feedback scheme of control (Open loop + closed

loop)
T0
h A(Tref – T0)+K(Tref- T) P T
Tref
Controller Resistor Boiler
h
T
A
A
 C = Tref − T =

1+
hA
 Control (3) 27

Feedback scheme of control (Closed loop)

K(Tref- T) P T
Tref
Controller Resistor Boiler

T
 Control (4) 28

PID controller
 Isothermal Temperature Coefficient 29

In many power reactors the entire core is brought very slowly from room
temperature to the operating inlet coolant temperature, either by operating the
reactor at a very low power or by using another source of heat such as that
generated by the coolant pumps.
In such an operation a reasonable approximation is to assume that the core
behaves isothermally with a temperature T:

In this case we can introduce the isothermal temperature coefficient:

which accounts for the reactivity feedback under such circumstances.

 Temperature defect 30

Suppose we ask how much reactivity the control system must add to bring a reactor core
from room temperature to the operating inlet temperature.
The control reactivity must just compensate for the negative feedback reactivity.
We find the reactivity decrease by integrating the isothermal temperature coefficient from
room temperature, Tr, to the operating inlet temperature Ti:

The temperature defect, as defined here, is negative provided the temperature coefficient
is also negative. To compensate for it an equal amount of reactivity must be added to the
reactor through withdrawal of control rods or other means in order to bring the reactor
from room to operating temperature.

These two states normally are referred to as cold critical and hot zero-power critical,
respectively.
 Power defect 31

As the reactor power increases above the hot zero-power state to its rated level, a negative
power coefficient causes the reactivity to decrease further by an amount determined by
integrating the fuel and coolant temperature coefficients between inlet and full power
conditions:

This quantity is defined as the power defect. Because it is negative if the temperature
coefficients are negative, the control system must add an equal amount of reactivity to
bring the reactor from zero to full power.
Power effects (1)
Power effects (17)
Reactivity control (1)
Reactivity control (2)
Reactivity control (3)
Reactivity control (4)
Reactivity control (5)
Reactivity control (6)

The plots of excess reactivity versus time from beginning to end of core life (from
BOL to EOL) illustrate this point by depicting the transitions between four states
of the reactor:
a) cold shutdown,
b) cold critical,
c) hot zero-power critical,
d) full power,
from the beginning through the end of core life. With this terminology, ‘‘cold’’
means ambient or room temperature, and ‘‘hot zero power’’ stipulates that the
entire reactor has been heated to the temperature of the coolant inlet at full
power, but essentially no power is being produced and thus the core is
isothermal. As a reactor is taken from cold shutdown to full power, negative
temperature feedback causes excess reactivity to decrease, meaning that control
poisons must be removed to keep the reactor critical.
Conversely, when the reactor is shut down, temperatures decrease, causing
excess reactivity to increase, and control poisons must be added.
Reactivity control (7)
 Exercises 41

EXERCISE 1
A homogeneous fuel-moderator mixture is assembled as an un-reflected critical reactor. No cooling is
provided. Suddenly a control rod is removed, bringing k to 1.02.
Estimate the maximum temperature that results. The thermal conductivity is high enough that the core
can be treated isothermally.

As data, use:
a = -2.5 pcm/°C
 = 0.0075
 = 10-5 sec.

EXERCISE 2
At full power a 1000 MW(t) sodium-cooled fast reactor has coolant inlet and outlet temperatures of
350 and 500 °C and an average fuel temperature of 1150 °C. The fuel and coolant temperature
coefficients are af = -1.5 pcm/°C and ac = 0.4 pcm/°C. For this reactor the power is maintained at full
power while the following quasi-static changes are made:
a. The inlet temperature is slowly decreased by 10 °C.
b. The flow rate is slowly increased by 10%.
For each of the cases determine by how much the reactivity must be increased or decreased to keep
the reactor running at constant power.
 Exercise 42

Exercise

At full power a 1000 MW(t) sodium-cooled fast reactor has coolant inlet and outlet
temperatures of 350 and 500 °C and an average fuel temperature of 1150 °C. The fuel
and coolant temperature coefficients are af = -1.5 pcm/°C and ac = 0.4 pcm/°C.

1. Estimate the core thermal resistance and the mass flow rate, taking for sodium C
=1250 J/kg °C.

2. Estimate the temperature and power defects, assuming a ‘‘cold’’ temperature of 180
°C.

3. Estimate the power coefficients.