Optimization of Core Reload Design for Low-Leakage Fuel Management in Pressurized Water Reactors

Abstract

A method was developed to optimize pressurized water reactor low-leakage core reload designs that features the decoupling and sequential optimization of the fuel arrangement and control problems. The two-stage optimization process provides the maximum cycle length for a given fresh fuel loading subject to power peaking constraints. In the first stage, a best fuel arrangement is determined at the end of cycle (EOC) in the absence of all control poisons by employing a direct search method. The constant power, Haling depletion is used to provide the cycle length and EOC power peaking for each candidate core fuel arrangement. In the second stage, the core control poison requirements to meet the core peaking constraints throughout the cycle are determined using an approximate nonlinear programming technique.