基于波形逼近的快中子脉冲堆耦合计算

快中子脉冲堆在爆发脉冲过程中的中子输运与热弹性力学相互耦合,该耦合作用过程决定了脉冲特性。基于绝热近似下燃料元件温升始终正比于系统总裂变数的事实,提出了通过调整参数使温升随时间变化的曲线逼近裂变率曲线的耦合计算方法。在迭代逼近过程中,采用了有限元商业软件ANSYS处理力学建模和热弹性力学求解,利用点堆方程描述中子学行为,两者利用基于微扰理论的反应性反馈方程进行耦合。通过调整参数使力学模型的温升加载函数波形逼近通过输运计算得到的裂变率波形,直至两者一致。以Lady Godiva脉冲堆为例的裂变产额计算结果与实验结果一致,该计算方法有望用于快中子脉冲堆的研究和设计。     

Whole Core Calculations of Power Reactors by Use of Monte Carlo Method

Abstract

Whole core calculations have been performed for a commercial size PWR and a prototype LMFBR by using vectorized Monte Carlo codes. Geometries of cores were precisely represented in a pin by pin model. The calculated parameters were k _eff, control rod worth, power distribution and so on. Both multigroup and continuous energy models were used and the accuracy of multigroup approximation was evaluated through the comparison of both results. One million neutron histories were tracked to considerably reduce variances. It was demonstrated that the high speed vectorized codes could calculate k _eff, assembly power and some reactivity worths within practical computation time. For pin power and small reactivity worth calculations, the order of 10 million histories would be necessary. It would be difficult for the conventional scalar code to solve such large scale problems while the present codes consumed computation time less than 30 min for a PWR and 1 hour for an LMFBR. Required number of histories to achieve target design accuracy were estimated for those neutronic parameters.     

Development of a thermal-hydraulic analysis software for the Chinese advanced pressurized water reactor

A point reactor neutron kinetics model, a drift-flow U-tube steam generator model, a non-equilibrium three-region pressurizer model and other models were established and a transient analysis code with Visual Fortran 6.5 has been developed to analyze the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the Chinese advanced pressurized water reactor (AC-600). Visual input, real-time processing and dynamic visualization output were achieved with Microsoft Visual Studio.NET 2003, which greatly facilitate applications in the engineering. The software were applied to analyze the transient thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the loss of feed-water accident, the double loops loss-of-flow accident, the reactivity insertion accident, the sudden increase of feed-water temperature accident and the loss of offsite power accident for the Qinshan nuclear power plant in China. The obtained analysis results are significant to the improvement of design and safety operation of the plant.     

Dynamical models and numerical simulation of system-wide transients in loop-type LMFBRs

Dynamical models and numerical methods for a digital simulation of protected transients in loop-type LMFBRs resulting in EPRI-CURL code are presented. The model is capable of simulating operational transients, anticipated incidents, and postulated accidents which do not lead to sodium boiling. The dynamical models include: point reactor kinetics, primary, intermediate, and tertiary system heat transfer and coolant flow dynamics governed by forced and natural convection effects; and plant protection and control systems. A numerical method is incorporated which calculated the characteristic times of the 489 state variables modeling the entire system, and compares them with a variable preset integration timestep. A Runge-Kutta algorithm is applied to those state variables with moderate and slow response, and a quasistatic approximation is applied to those with rapid response; i.e., the ‘stiff’ equations. This assures numerical stability and is shown to greatly reduce the computation time requirements without much sacrifice in accuracy. The steady state (quasistatic) equations are further utilized to determine the unperturbed state of the system prior to transient initiation. The system response to a complete loss-of-electric power leading to buoyancy-induced natural circulation is calculated and compared to parallel calculations using DEMO and SSC-L simulation models.     

反应性加入速度和中子源强度对临界事故规模的影响

在没有中子源或中子源强度很弱的核系统中,由于意外发生的临界事故(核闪变)释放的能量远大于反应堆动力学的预估值,为了给反应堆运行启动程序的制定和减小临界事故规模提供参考,本文建立了核闪变能量释放模型.在引发第一个持续裂变链的时间分布的基础上,从理论上推导出核闪变峰内能量释放与中子源强度.反应性加入速度的关系.结果表明:中子源强度越小,反应性加入速度越大,事故规模越大.     

核动力厂堆芯毒性的单群点堆模拟及实验验证

为快速且精确地预测堆芯毒性,本文提出了一种通过特定的边界条件确定单群点堆模型参数,再通过单群点堆模型对堆芯毒性进行预测的方法。为验证该方法,以M310堆芯为例,对几种典型工况下的氙毒和钐毒变化进行模拟,并将模拟结果与更加精确的三维两群模型给出的结果进行对比;使用该方法对一起执照运行事件过程中堆芯毒性的变化进行了模拟,并将模拟结果与测量值进行对比。结果表明,模拟结果与测量值吻合很好;通过本文提出的方法,单群点堆模型能以较高的精度追踪压水堆堆芯毒性的变化。     

Analysis of super delayed-critical transients in thermal reactors using 2-D and 3-D adiabatic and improved quasistatic models

A computer model 3d-fast is developed for solving the space-time kinetics equations in 1-D, 2-D or 3-D using the adiabatic and improved quasistatic (IQS) methods. Using this model, some super delayed-critical transients in 2-D and 3-D are analysed for varying reactivity insertion rates. It is shown that for transients where the reactivity insertion rate is small and change in flux shape is slow, the results obtained both by adiabatic and IQS models are in good agreement, while for fast reactivity insertion rates where changes in flux shapes are also rapid, the results obtained by the adiabatic method are grossly in error, while those obtained by the IQS method are more satisfactory.     

核动力厂堆芯毒性的单群点堆模拟及实验验证

To predict the poisoning quickly and precisely, a method to determine the parameters of the single group point reactor model with appropriate boundary conditions is developed, and the poisoning is predicted with the single group reactor model. And then, the evolution of Xenon poisoning and Samarium poisoning is simulated in several working conditions of the reactor of a M310 Nuclear Power Plant with the single group point reactor model. Xenon poisoning and Samarium poisoning calculated by the single group point reactor approximation fits well with the results of a more accurate 3- dimensional 2 group method. The accuracy of the point group model is examined by simulating the Xenon poisoning and Samarium poisoning in a real license operation event. The reactivity worth of Xenon poisoning and Samarium poisoning simulated by the model fits well with the reactivity worth obtained in the experiment. This work shows that the single group point reactor model can illustrate the Xenon poisoning and Samarium poisoning with significant accuracy with the parameters deduced by this method.     

次临界或低功率启动工况下提棒事故分析

由于控制棒抽出引起堆芯内反应性失控增加,从而导致核功率剧增的事故定义为一组控制棒组件抽出事故。这种瞬态可能是反应堆控制系统或棒控系统失灵引起的。多普勒负反应性反馈效应能在保护动作延迟的时间内将功率限制在可接受的水平。该事故中,燃料棒表面可能发生偏离泡核沸腾(departure from nucleate boiling,简称DNB),导致燃料元件包壳烧毁;燃料芯块也可能发生熔化,对包壳产生不利影响。文章对岭澳混合堆芯和提高富集度论证次临界或低功率启动工况下提棒事故进行了分析。分析结果表明,事故瞬态中不会发生燃料芯块熔化或燃料元件包壳烧毁,可以保证燃料元件的完整性,燃料设计满足限制准则。     

空间锂冷概念快堆堆芯中子学特性研究

本文研究了一种空间锂冷概念快堆的堆芯中子学特性。反应堆燃料采用氮化铀,冷却剂采用⁷Li液态金属,主要结构材料采用W-25%Re。反应堆的控制靠反射层内的控制鼓来实现。建立了程序的计算模型,通过计算和分析,给出了堆芯的主要尺寸和物理参数,计算了堆芯的控制鼓价值、燃耗和功率分布。分析了堆芯中Re的谱移吸收特性和满功率运行7 a不需换料的性能,谱移吸收特性能确保反应堆在发射失败浸在水或湿沙中时处于次临界状态。     

溶液堆落棒及弹棒事故分析

基于实验给出的溶液堆的气泡模型和温度模型,分别用点堆动力学和三维中子输运理论对溶液堆的瞬态进行了模拟和分析。利用研制的程序,对溶液堆不同工况、引入不同反应性的情况进行了模拟,得到了溶液堆可稳定的功率水平和事故情况下的功率波动。数值计算结果表明,基于点堆动力学和反应性反馈机制建立的模型,计算速度快,适合对溶液堆进行在线模拟和快速分析;而基于三维中子输运理论建立的模型,采用改进的准静态方法进行求解,计算精度较高,计算速度可接受,可用来对溶液堆进行精确的安全分析。     

A Reactivity Meter and Its Application

In order to measure reactivity from instant to instant during reactor operation, real time computation based on reactor kinetic equations must be made.

The authors developed some reactivity meters capable of such computation based on the analog computer technique. After their characteristics were checked by an analog computer and a kinetic simulator, they were applied to reactor experiments and operation. It was found that the reactivity meter method for measurement of reactivity worth (especially for control rod calibration) is better than other current methods, and the reactivity meter can also serve as a tool in nuclear instrumentation of reactors for its ability to indicate reactivity even in reactor start up conditions.     

On the response of a critical point reactor to inherent reactivity noise input

It is shown that the use of linearization and/or quasistatic approximation leads to general methods for assessing the influence of reactivity noise on a power reactor. Exact time dependent expressions have been found for the moments of state variables for the case of an uncontrolled critical point reactor. For the special case of an initial equilibrium between neutrons and precursors, it is found that the normalized centred covariances of neutrons and precursors increase linearly with time exactly at the same rate.     

Design & construction of a digital real time reactivity meter for Tehran research reactor

Reactivity measurement is one of the challenges of monitoring, control and investigation of nuclear reactors. In this paper design and construction of a reactivity meter for continuous monitoring of reactivity in research reactors are described. The device receives amplified output of the fission chamber, which is in mA range, as the input. Using amplifier circuits, this current is converted to voltage and then digitalized with a microcontroller to be sent to serial port of computer. The device itself consists of software, which is a MATLAB real time programming for the computation of reactivity by the solution of neutron kinetic equations. After data processing the reactivity is calculated and presented using LCD. Tehran research reactor is selected to test the reactivity meter device. The results of applying this reactivity meter in Tehran research reactor (TRR) are compared with the experimental data of control rod worth, void coefficient of reactivity and reactivity changes during approach to full power. The maximum relative error in several experiments is calculated to be 13%.     

西安脉冲堆反应性引入事故瞬态安全特性分析

为研究西安脉冲堆（XAPR）在意外引入反应性且停堆系统失效事故下的瞬态安全特性,本文基于XAPR的结构和运行特点,建立了适用于XAPR的瞬态热工水力分析模型,并开发了用于XAPR安全特性分析的瞬态热工水力程序TSAC-XAPR。利用TSAC-XAPR程序对反应性引入事故进行模拟计算,结果表明：当XAPR在额定功率范围内运行时,发生反应性引入事故后,堆芯能依靠自身的固有反馈机制使脉冲堆重新达到稳定运行状态;当运行功率过高尤其是超过临界值时,反应性引入事故将导致脉冲堆关键热工水力参数发生振荡,无法再次达到稳态。此外,不同反应性引入方式将影响堆芯参数在反应性引入过程中的变化趋势,但并不影响其最终稳态值。     

Was the Chazhma Accident a Chernobyl of the Far East?

The 1985 reactivity accident on a submarine in bukhta Chazhma was accompanied by a substantial emission of fission products and activational radionuclides whose total activity reached 5 MCi. Some specialists have compared this emission to the emission resulting from the 1986 accident in Chernobyl, neglecting the large difference in the radionuclide composition: short-lived products of prompt fission of uranium (with an admixture of activational ⁶⁰Co) in Chazhma and long-lived fission products accumulated over the run of the power reactor with an admixture of short-lived nuclides from the spontaneous excursion of the RBMK-1000 reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It is shown that the emission of long-lived radioecologically significant radionuclides in Chazhma was approximately 0.79 Ci, while in the Chernobyl accident this emission was 90 MCi.A quantitative comparison is presented of the activity and radionuclide composition between the accidents in Chazhma and Chernobyl taking account of the fraction of long-lived radionuclides and neglecting the radioactive inert gases. These quantitative estimates are used to show that the Chazhma accident is not analogous to the 1986 accident in Chernobyl.     

Transient Safety Characteristic Analysis of Xi’an Pulsed Reactor during Reactivity Insertion Accident

In order to study the transient safety characteristics of Xi’an Pulsed Reactor (XAPR) when unexpected reactivity insertion accident happened and shutdown system failed, the main mathematical models were established based on the specific core structure and operation conditions of XAPR. Meanwhile, a transient thermal-hydraulic code called TSAC-XAPR was developed to analyze the safety characteristics of XAPR. The TSAC-XAPR code was then used to simulate the reactivity insertion accident of XAPR. The calculation results indicate that when XAPR operating under rated power, reactor can reach a new steady state for reactivity insertion accident, depending on its inherent feedback mechanism. When XAPR operating under high power, especially above the critical power, key thermal-hydraulic parameters of reactor will tend to oscillate and can’t reach a steady state again for reactivity insertion accident. Besides, it is also found that different reactivity insertion modes will only affect the variation trend during the phase of reactivity insertion instead of the final value at steady state.     

Analysis of prompt supercritical process with heat transfer and temperature feedback

The prompt supercritical process of a nuclear reactor with temperature feedback and initial power as well as heat transfer with a big step reactivity (ρ0>β) is analyzed in this paper.Considering the effect of heat transfer on temperature of the reactor,a new model is set up.For any initial power,the variations of output power and reactivity with time are obtained by numerical method.The effects of the big inserted step reactivity and initial power on the prompt supercritical process are analyzed and discussed.It was found that the effect of heat transfer on the output power and reactivity can be neglected under any initial power,and the output power obtained by the adiabatic model is basically in accordance with that by the model of this paper,and the analytical solution can be adopted.The results provide a theoretical base for safety analysis and operation management of a power reactor.     

Thermal-hydraulic behavior of the NUR nuclear research reactor during a fast loss of flow transient

Nuclear safety analysis remains of crucial importance for both the design and the operation of nuclear reactors. Safety analysis usually entails the simulation of several selected postulated accidents, which can be divided into two main categories, namely reactivity insertion accident (RIA) and loss of flow accident (LOFA). In this paper, thermal-hydraulic simulations of fast LOFA accident were carried out on the new core configuration of the material test research reactor NUR. For this purpose, the nuclear reactor analysis PARET code was used to determine the reactor performance by calculating the reactor power, the reactivity and the temperatures of different components (fuel, clad and coolant) as a function of time. It was observed that during the transient the maximum clad temperature remained well below the critical temperature limit of 110 °C, and the maximum coolant temperature did not exceed the onset of nucleate boiling point of 120 °C. It is concluded that the reactor can be operated at full power level with sufficient safety margins with regard to such kind of transients.     

小型铅铋冷却快堆瞬态安全分析

本文基于多通道热工模型与功率计算模型,在快堆分析程序SARAX的基础上开发了可用于分析小型铅铋冷却快堆在无保护超功率事故、无保护失流事故及无保护失热阱事故发生时瞬态安全特性的计算功能,并利用该程序计算了在不同事故情况下,堆芯反应性、功率以及热工参数随时间的变化,分析评价了堆芯的中子学和热工水力学性能。结果表明所设计的堆芯在发生事故时具有固有安全特性。