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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
George J. Bohm
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 22 | Number 2 | June 1965 | Pages 143-152
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE65-A20233
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The transfer matrix method is used to determine the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions needed to obtain the response of nuclear power reactor internals to dynamic excitations. Transfer matrices and delta matrices are developed for a particular closed-cycle pressurized-water-reactor (PWR) configuration. Two cases are studied, 1) where the internals are rigidly supported near the bottom by the vessel walls and 2) where the vessel elastically supports the internals requiring that the combined structure be analyzed. The analysis takes into consideration structures with different cross sections and masses that are connected in series and/or parallel. Results obtained with a digital computer are shown. The method and the results obtained in this paper can be used for a complete reactor dynamical analysis of most PWR internals, since their structures are similar in design.