Surveillance and Diagnostics of Next Generation Nuclear Reactors

Next generation nuclear reactors are expected to contribute to the future energy mix, forming part of the transition to an emission-free energy system. Diagnostics and monitoring are a necessary part of the design, development and operation of the new generation of nuclear power plants.

Reactor diagnostics, particularly methods based on neutron noise analysis, have been used for traditional light and heavy water reactors, and offer benefits for early detection, identification and quantification of incipient failures. Diagnostic techniques will be useful for the next generation of power plants, including small, medium and small modular reactors (SMR), which use alternative coolant types. To expedite the planning of effective diagnostics, one needs knowledge of what problems might occur, and what methods are suitable for detecting and quantifying those problems. This book conveys a thorough study of the dynamic transfer properties of the main Gen-IV and SMR types; it also serves as a handbook for two-group power reactor noise theory for both traditional and fast systems. Chapters cover principles of reactor diagnostics and noise analysis for both thermal and fast systems, the structure of the core response in basic planned Gen-IV types and SMRs to some basic perturbations, a survey of dynamic core transfer calculational codes, zero power noise methods, instrumentation and control systems, and worldwide activities in design and planned diagnostics of SMRs. Surveillance and Diagnostics of Next Generation Nuclear Reactors is a concise and logically-structured reference for nuclear scientists, researchers and engineers involved in exploring new reactor concepts and developing designs for the coming generation of nuclear power plants.

Author Biography

Imre Pázsit is a professor in the Division of Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics at the Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden. He has published over 200 articles in international journals. He holds the Leo Szilard Medal of the Hungarian Nuclear Society and the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government. He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, and holds the E.P. Wigner Reactor Physicist Award.

Hoai Nam Tran is a professor at the Phenikaa Institute for Advanced Study, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Vietnam. He earned his doctoral degree in Nuclear Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2008, followed by postdoctoral research at Nagoya University (2008-2010) and Chalmers University of Technology (2010-2013). His research interests include nuclear reactor core physics, advanced fuel designs, in-core fuel management, and reactor noise analysis. Zsolt Elter works as a reactor physicist in the Swedish nuclear industry, and is part-time employed as a researcher at the Division of Applied Nuclear Physics at Uppsala University, Sweden, where he teaches reactor physics. He earned his PhD in nuclear engineering under the supervision of Prof. Imre Pázsit from Chalmers University of Technology. His professional interests include Monte Carlo-based neutronics and radiation shielding simulations, as well as deterministic lattice physics methods.