The method of the reactivity margin calculation required for the IGR reactor start-up in the “Pulse” mode

Abstract

The manuscript proposes a method to carry out of the Impulse Graphite Reactor (IGR reactor) start-up, which increases the reactor tests safety by reducing the number of reactivity control elements (control rods) of the IGR reactor control and protection system involved in the reactor operation.Based on the experimental data, the correlations between the parameters of the reactor power diagram and the reactivity margin required for its implementation were determined.The efficiency of the proposed method was verified in practice using the automatic power control simulation circuit and IGR reactor start-ups.