Westinghouse Electric Sweden Ab

Gunilla Norbäck

Carl Adamsson

Sture Helmersson

Dmitry V Paramonov

Mahdi Majed

Rolf Eklund

Dmitry Paramonov

A method of determining the R-factor for a bundle of nuclear fuel rods in a nuclear light water reactor of the boiling water reactor kind. The R-factor is a factor that accounts for the weighted local power influence on a fuel rod. A local R-factor (R(z)) is determined for each fuel rod (i) in said bundle and for each of a plurality of levels (z) in an axial direction. The individual axial heat generation profile for a certain fuel rod (i) is taken into account when determining the local R-factors (R(z)) for said fuel rod (i). A processor is configured for automatically determining the R-factor. A computer program product, a method of determining the critical power for a bundle of fuel rods, a nuclear energy plant, and a method of operating a nuclear energy plant are also described.

Methods and devices relating to a nuclear light water reactor of the boiling water kind

The invention concerns a method of estimating when dryout may occur in a nuclear light water reactor of the boiling water reactor kind. The method includes the use of a formula which expresses the local dryout property of the nuclear reactor. The formula includes at least a first and a second factor. The first factor is a first function that describes how the dryout property depends on the flow of the cooling medium through the nuclear fuel arrangement. The second factor is a second function that describes how the dryout property depends on the axial power profile of the nuclear fuel arrangement. The first and the second functions describe said flow dependence and said axial power profile dependence independently of each other. The invention also concerns a nuclear energy plant, a computer program product () and a method of operating a nuclear energy plant.

Method and apparatus of estimating dryout properties in a nuclear light water reactor

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Västerås, Sweden

Gunilla Norbäck