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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.
Charles F. Karlson
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 121 | Number 1 | September 1995 | Pages 57-66
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE95-A24129
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A method for the generation of in-core constants from the SIMULATE-3 advanced reactor analysis code is presented. This method builds on prior work at the Southern California Edison Company for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and is now applied to the Combustion Engineering System 80 units at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS). Power-to-signal ratios, assembly coupling coefficients, pin peaking factors, and Fourier Series analysis are shown to reproduce the SIMULATE-3 solution extremely well. Correction of SIMULATE-3 calculated in-core detector fluxes and cross sections for rhodium shielding and homogeneous-to-heterogeneous geometries are discussed. Calculated and measured detector signals are compared to confirm the ability to calculate the rhodium reaction rates needed for the power-to-signal ratio and are found to be within 2%.Core maximum power peaking factors and a radial assembly power distribution for PVNGS Unit 3 cycle 5 show excellent agreement with differences <2% in maximum power locations. This work is the basis for future improved reactor surveillance methods, with the realization of significant thermal margin gains from reduced uncertainties in the core protection system.