Propagation noise calculations in VVER-type reactor core

Abstract

Neutron noise induced by propagating disturbances in VVER-type reactor core is addressed in this paper. The spatial discretization of the governing equations is based on the box-scheme finite difference method for triangular-z geometry. Using the derived equations, a 3-D 2-group neutron noise simulator (called TRIDYN-3) is developed for hexagonal-structured reactor core, by which the discrete form of both the forward and adjoint reactor dynamic transfer functions (in the frequency domain) can be calculated. In addition, both types of noise sources, namely point-like and traveling perturbations, can be modeled by TRIDYN-3. The results are then benchmarked in different cases. Considering the noise source as propagating perturbations of the macroscopic absorption cross sections, the induced neutron noise is calculated throughout the reactor core. For the first time, adjoint approach is applied and examined for modeling moving noise sources. Moreover, the space- and frequency-dependence of the propagation noise are investigated in this paper.