A KINETIC ANALYSIS OF THE AIR FORCE NUCLEAR ENGINEERING TEST REACTOR.
Abstract
A series of parametric relationships are derived which predict the kinetic behavior of the Air Force Nuclear Engineering Test Reactor. These parametric relations are based both on the reactor's physical design and its calculated nuclear constants. The analytical model chosen was based heavily on experimental and theoretical results from the SPERT I and IV test series. Neutron kinetics were described using the space independent kinetics equations with six delayed groups. Thermal kinetics were obtained by breaking the reactor cooling system into a series of blocks and writing a heat balance equation for each. Reactivity feedback was based on an effective void volume due to moderator density change, core expansion, and steam formation. A digital computer code was constructed to solve the resulting set of differential equations. The theory was checked by inserting nuclear and physical characteristics of the SPERT IV reactor facility into the code. Time-dependent plots of power, temperature and reactivity which compared favorably with experiment resulted. A series of parametric power and temperature curves was then obtained for the NETR by varying void coefficient, delayed fraction, generation time, and metal-water ratio, for various step inputs of reactivity. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0621124
Entities
People
- John Arnold Palmer
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology