This master thesis investigates the nuclear reactor response analysis of its ability to operate in the load-following operation mode. Due to the increase of intermittent renewable sources usage, the need for operation in the load-following mode is also increasing.
Due to relatively fast changes in power, different transient effects and feedback effects on reactivity appear in the reactor core on different time scales. The fastest response is temperature feedback effects due to changes in fuel and coolant temperature. Their typical time scales are up to a few minutes. Midterm effects are caused by the formation and decay of the two fission products with the largest impact on reactivity – $^{135}$Xe and $^{149}$Sm. They have an effect on the reactor core on the time scale of a few tens of hours. The slowest effects are due to burnup, which occurs over the scale of weeks and months.
For analysis, the one-group diffusion approximation of the neutron transport equation was used. First is a one-point kinetic model with an analysis of time stability at different physical parameters of the reactor core. Followed by the division of the reactor core into two equal halves in the axial direction using a two-point kinetic model. Using a two-point model results in rough spatial resolution and the possibility of the occurrence of spatial effects, such as oscillations of $^{135}$Xe concentrations.
For testing of the reactor's capacity, two load-following scenarios are introduced. The first is quasi-realistic and includes the electric production from intermittent solar and wind power. The second is a test scenario with which the capability of following the requirements of the EU and energy permit for the nuclear power plant Krško 2 (JEK2) is tested.
To follow the presented quasi-realistic load-following scenario with a $500\,\mathrm{MW}$ reactor, using a one-point model, reactivity varying from $-100\,\mathrm{pcm}$ to $200\,\mathrm{pcm}$ is required, which has to be varied at a rate of up to approximately $1\,\mathrm{pcm\,s^{-1}}$. Using a two-point model, about $-260\,\mathrm{pcm}$ of reactivity in each half is needed at a rate of up to $0.2\,\mathrm{pcm\,s^{-1}}$.
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