CANDU Reactor Space-Time Kinetic Model for Load Following Studies

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a three-dimensional space-time neutronic kinetic model of a Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactor using a modal method. In this method, the reactor space-time neutron flux is synthesized by a time-weighted series of precalculated neutron flux modes. The modes are eigenfunctions of the governing neutron diffusion equation during reference steady-state operation. The xenon effect has also been considered. The reactor model is then implemented within a simulation platform of a CANDU6 reactor regulating system in MATLAB/SIMULINK . A nondimensionalized SIMULINK representation of the reactor kinetic model is established. The behavior of the reactor during load following transients has been simulated using the developed reactor-modeling module. The simulation results prove the efficiency of the model. A three-dimensional neutron flux distribution during transients is represented.