Control rod effects

The present treatment of the problem of computing the effectiveness of a control rod is carried out on the basis of two analytical models. In the application of the first, the one-velocity model, attention is directed toward displaying some of the elementary physical ideas involved in the general problem. The model is used here primarily for purposes of illustration it is not intended that it be considered an accurate tool for computing control-rod effectiveness. The second method utilizes the two-group model, and it is expected that the results obtained from this formulation will be useful for the solution of practical problems. 

Finally, it is pointed out that, unless otherwise stated, control-rod effectiveness is measured in the present work by the reactivity of the... 

The traditional way to calculate the physical characteristics of a fast reactor is to carry out the following steps (1) preparation of the effective cross sections for regions of the reactor (2) a three-dimensional calculation to obtain k-eff, and real and adjoint fluxes (3) edit the results of the previous steps to estimate the power and reaction rate distributions, neutron kinetics parameters, control rod effectiveness, etc., and (4) a bumup analysis, calculating the variation of the isotopic composition with time, and then recalculating the results obtained in the previous steps for particular bumup states. This scheme has been implemented, for example, in the TRIGEX code [4.49]. This code calculates k-eff, few group real and adjoint fluxes, power spatial distribution, dose factor and reaction rates distributions, breeding parameters, bumup effects, and kinetics parameters (effective delayed neutron Auction, etc.). 

Nuclear Radiation Effects. Components of a nuclear reactor system that require lubrication include control-rod drives, coolant circulating pumps or compressors, motor-operated valves, and fuel handling devices, and, of course, are exposed to varying amounts of ionising (14). 

Control of the core is affected by movable control rods which contain neutron absorbers soluble neutron absorbers ia the coolant, called chemical shim fixed burnable neutron absorbers and the intrinsic feature of negative reactivity coefficients. Gross changes ia fission reaction rates, as well as start-up and shutdown of the fission reactions, are effected by the control rods. In a typical PWR, ca 90 control rods are used. These, iaserted from the top of the core, contain strong neutron absorbers such as boron, cadmium, or hafnium, and are made up of a cadmium—iadium—silver alloy, clad ia stainless steel. The movement of the control rods is governed remotely by an operator ia the control room. Safety circuitry automatically iaserts the rods ia the event of an abnormal power or reactivity transient. 

Chemical shim control is effected by adjusting the concentration of boric acid dissolved ia the coolant water to compensate for slowly changing reactivity caused by slow temperature changes and fuel depletion. Eixed burnable poison rods are placed ia the core to compensate for fuel depletion. 

The silvery, shiny, ductile metal is passivated with an oxide layer. Chemically very similar to and always found with zirconium (like chemical twins, with almost identical ionic radii) the two are difficult to separate. Used in control rods in nuclear reactors (e.g. in nuclear submarines), as it absorbs electrons more effectively than any other element. Also used in special lamps and flash devices. Alloys with niobium and tantalum are used in the construction of chemical plants. Hafnium dioxide is a better insulator than Si02. Hafnium carbide (HfC) has the highest melting point of all solid substances (3890 °C record ). 

Strizak, J.P., Effects of oxidation on the strength of C/C composites for GT-MHR control rods. In Proceedings of 22nd Biennial Conf. on Carbon Pub. American Carbon Society, 1995, pp 760-761. 

Constructive Interference when waves combine to reinforce each other Control to remove or account for the effect of a variable in an experiment Control Rod rods used in nuclear reactor to absorb neutrons and control fission of radioactive fuel... 

Significant advances have also been made in reactor safety. Earlier reactors rely on a series of active measures, such as water pumps, that come into play to keep the reactor core cool in the event of an accident. A major drawback is that these safety devices are subject to failure, thereby requiring backups and, in some cases, backups to the backups The Generation IV reactor designs provide for what is called passive stability, in which natural processes, such as evaporation, are used to keep the reactor core cool. Furthermore, the core has a negative temperature coefficient, which means the reactor shuts itself down as its temperature rises owing to a number of physical effects, such as any swelling of the control rods. 

Reactivity Control. The movable boron-carbide control rods are sufficient to provide reactivity control from the cold shutdown condition to the full-load condition. Supplementary reactivity control in the form of solid burnable poison is used only to provide reactivity compensation for fuel burnup or depletion effects. The movable control rod system is capable of bringing the reactor to the subcritieal when the reactor is an ambient temperature (cold), zero power, zero xenon, and with the strongest control rod fully withdrawn from the core. In order to provide greater assurance that this condition can be met in the operating reactor, the core is designed to obtain a reactivity of less than 0.99, or a 1% margin on the stuck rod condition. See Fig. 7. 

The moderator slows the neutrons to increase the efficiency of the fission reaction. The control rods absorb neutrons to slow or halt the fission reaction. 39. Even though gamma rays penetrate human tissue very deeply, they are very small and cause only occasional ionization of biomolecules. Alpha particles, because they are much more massive, are very effective at causing ionization of biomolecules and produce a dense trail of damage once they get inside an organism. 

Pulsed research reactors, such as reactors of the Triga type, are especially designed for production and investigation of short-lived radionuclides. In these reactors the neutron flux is increased for about 10 ms to about 10 cm s by taking out the control rods (section 11.5). Due to the negative temperature coefficient of the zirconium hydride moderator, the outburst of power causes a sudden decrease of the moderator properties and shutting off of the reactor. After several minutes the effects have vanished and a new pulse can be started. The activities of radionuclides of various half-lives obtained with pulsed reactors are compared in Table 12.2 with those produced at constant neutron flux densities. The table shows that pulsed reactors are useful for production and investigation of radionuclides with half-lives < 10 s. 

---