Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC

General Electric Company

Global Nuclear Fuels-americas, LLC

David Joseph Kropaczek

William Earl Russell, Ii

Steven Barry Sutton

Christian Carlos Oyarzun

Mehdi Asgari

William Charles Cline

Carey Reid Merritt

Glen Alan Watford

Atul Arun Karve

Angelo Chopelas

John Dean Fuller

Margaret Estelle Harding

Russell M Fawcett

Lukas Trosman

Gerald Dean Kvaall, Jr

Roland Otto Jackson

Jens H Andersen

John Patrick Rea

Ugur Mertyurek

Richard Dean McCord

Matthew Anderson Jessee

Brian Moore

Mathew Anderson Jessee

William Earl Ii Russell

Carey Reid Merrit

Angelo Peter Chopelas

In a method of designing a nuclear reactor core for uprated power operations, a set of constraints are inputted to be satisfied for uprated power operations, and a test reactor core design is generated based on the constraints. One or more automated tools may be selected from a set of automated tools to evaluate the test core design against the constraints. The selected tool may then be operated. Operation of the selected automated tool includes simulating reactor operation with the test core design, based on the constraints, to produce a plurality of outputs, comparing the outputs against the constraints, and providing data indicating constraints that were violated by the test core design during the simulation, based on the comparison. One or more of the automated tools are iterated until a test core design meets all constraints for uprated power operations, thereby representing an acceptable power uprate core design.

Method and system for designing a nuclear reactor core for uprated power operations

In a computer-implemented method of designing a nuclear reactor of a given reactor plant, an initial, test reactor core design is generated for the given plant based on a plurality of limits input by a user. The limits include a plurality of transient licensing constraints to be satisfied for operating the given plant. The method includes selecting, from a set of automated tools, one or more automated tools to evaluate the test core design, and operating one of more of selected automated tools to output data for display to the user. The displayed data is related to a core design that satisfies the limits inclusive of the transient licensing constraints.

Computer-implemented method and system for designing a nuclear reactor core which satisfies licensing criteria

In a method for improving the energy generating output of a nuclear reactor containing one or more fuel rods in one or more fuel rod bundles while satisfying a maximum subcritical banked withdrawal position (MSBWP) reactivity limit, enrichments of individual fuel rods in an axial cross-section of a lattice being evaluated at the top of the fuel bundle are ranked, and the fuel pins of the highest ranked rod location in the lattice are replaced with pins containing natural uranium. A core simulation is then performed to determine whether there is any margin to a MSBWP reactivity limit. For each lower ranked candidate rod position, the pin replacing and core simulation functions are repeated until no rod location violates the MSBWP reactivity limit, so as to achieve a desired lattice design for the top of the fuel bundle.

Method for improving energy output of a nuclear reactor, method for determining natural uranium blanket layer for a fuel bundle, and a fuel bundle having a variable blanket layer

In the method for reactor simulation, a user modifies one or more design inputs used in creating a response surface. The response surface defines relationships between the design inputs and operational outputs of at least one or more aspects of a core design. A reactor simulation is then generated based on the response surface for the core design and the modified design input.

Method for predicted reactor simulation

A method of and a system for evaluating constraint functions for improving nuclear reactor performance involve generating an operational solution for a nuclear reactor using a constraint to account for a problem with the operation of the nuclear reactor. The problem is based at least in part on channel deformation criteria.

Method and apparatus for evaluating a proposed solution to a constraint problem for a nuclear reactor involving channel deformation

The apparatus for creating and editing a nuclear reactor core template includes a graphical user interface and a processor controlling the graphical user interface to allow a user to selectively populate a loading map with fuel bundles residing in at least one fuel pool.

Method and apparatus for moving nuclear fuel

The method of improving nuclear reactor performance involves generating an operational solution for a nuclear reactor based on a constraint accounting for a problem with operation of the nuclear reactor. The generated operational solution can then be implemented at the nuclear reactor.

Method of improving nuclear reactor performance

Methods for evaluating robustness of solutions to constraint problems include: (a) determining one or more inputs for the constraint problem; (b) determining bias, uncertainty, or bias and uncertainty of the one or more inputs; (c) randomly perturbating at least one of the one or more inputs based on the bias, uncertainty, or bias and uncertainty of the one or more inputs to determine one or more modified inputs; (d) generating a solution to the constraint problem based on the one or more modified inputs; (e) storing the solution; (f) repeating (c) through (e) until multiple solutions are stored; and/or (g) determining the robustness of the stored multiple solutions by comparison of the stored multiple solutions to each other. The one or more modified inputs include the randomly perturbated input or inputs and/or the non-perturbated input or inputs.

Methods for evaluating robustness of solutions to constraint problems

A method of evaluating constraint functions, the evaluation being based at least in part on a control blade movement criteria.

Method and apparatus for evaluating a proposed solution to a constraint problem

Method and apparatus for facilitating recovery of nuclear fuel from a fuel pool

A method of fuel bundle consideration in a reactor. The method includes creating or editing bundle groups including fuel bundles.

Methods of editing fuel bundle groups

Methods of using fuel bundle groups as evaluation constraints

A method for determining a fresh fuel bundle design for a core of a nuclear reactor may include defining a plurality of inputs including user-defined target conditions for evaluating one or more reference fresh fuel bundle designs for each of N bundle groups, and generating a response surface based on making single rod-type changes in each (i,j) rod location of each bundle of a given reference bundle design being evaluated for each of the N bundle groups. A search algorithm may be iterated to evaluate a given combination of multiple rod-type changes made simultaneously across each of the N bundle groups using the generated response surface to determine an accepted fuel bundle design for each of the N bundle groups that satisfies the user-defined target conditions.

Method of determining a fresh fuel bundle design for a core of a nuclear reactor

A system and method is provided for a continual updating of the optimization of multiple operational control-variables during the operation of a nuclear reactor over a plurality of fuel cycles. A networked computer system includes one or more hosts programmed to execute an optimization process to identify and make changes in quantitative values of operational control-variables that result in improved efficiency and operational flexibility. Optimization and updating of operational control-variables may proceed selectively under manual control for inputting specific optimization constraints and reactor state-point information or may proceed autonomously through a repetitive performing of the optimization process based upon a predetermined user-defined strategy stored on the network. Communications between users and networked processors is facilitated by use of a TCP/IP server connected to the Internet so that portions of the optimization process may be conducted contemporaneously at remote locations and/or the results made accessible to users via conventional browser enabled computers.

System and method for continuous optimization of control-variables during operation of a nuclear reactor

Systems and methods for a method for determining a critical effective k at an off-rated core state of a nuclear power plant includes determining, for the off-rated core state a control rod density, a percent core power, a gadolinium reactivity worth, a doppler reactivity worth, and a xenon reactivity worth responsive to a control rod pattern, a reactor power plan including the off-rated core state, and a reference effective k, calculating a change in an effective k from the reference effective k at the off-rated core state responsive to two or more parameters selected from the group consisting of the control rod density, the percent core power, the gadolinium reactivity worth, the doppler reactivity worth, and the xenon reactivity worth, and generating the critical effective k for the off-rated core state responsive to the change in the effective k from the reference effective k.

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Wilmington, NC, United States of America

David Joseph Kropaczek