Analysis of an MTC noise measurement performed in ringhals-2 using gamma-thermometers and in-core neutron detectors

Abstract

A noise measurement in the Swedish Ringhals-2 PWR was performed in January 2002 by using twelve gamma-thermometers and two in-core neutron detectors, all located on the same axial level in the reactor. The gamma-thermometers are very versatile tools since they allow estimating the core-averaged moderator temperature noise throughout the core. This core-averaged temperature noise was then used to estimate the MTC by noise analysis, via a new MTC noise estimator. It was shown that whatever the location of the neutron detector might be, the MTC is always correctly estimated by this new MTC noise estimator, without any calibration to a known value of the MTC prior to the noise measurement. For the purpose of comparisons, the MTC was also estimated by using a single gamma-thermomemeter and a single core-exit thermocouple, together with an in-core neutron detector. In such cases, the MTC was systematically underestimated, with a stronger bias for the core-exit thermocouple than for the gamma-thermometer. This shows that the main reason of the MTC underestimation by noise analysis in all the experimental work until now was due to the radially non-homogeneous temperature noise throughout the core. The resulting deviation from point-kinetics of the reactor response has a negligible effect.