An Effective Method for Estimating Multiple Control Rod Worths in Large Fast Reactors

Abstract

A method for estimating the multiple control rod worth in large fast reactors has been developed using the higher order perturbation technique. With this method, physical significance of the interaction effect between multiple control rods can be understood by decomposing it into independent components with different physical processes. Furthermore, a new technique is proposed, whereby the interaction effect between multiple control rods can be estimated from a combination of the interaction effects between two or three control rods depending on the strength of the effect. The validity of the method is examined with the experimental data of PHENIX and numerically for MONJU. The results show that the interaction effect between multiple control rods in prototype fast reactors can be estimated from a combination of the effects between 2 control rods with a good accuracy. The numerical examinations for a 1,000 MWe fast reactor showed that the interaction effect is too large to apply the present method for large fast reactors. To overcome this difficulty, a new concept of “quasi-control-rod” is introduced in the method. With this improved method, the worths of 19 and 18 control rods in the 1,000 MWe fast reactor are estimated with accuracies of ±2%.