Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

 

Feasibility study on a soluble boron-free small modular reactor Public Deposited

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  • The elimination of soluble boron creates several advantages for Small Modular Reactor (SMR) operation. Most of these advantages are realized through significant core simplification (removal of pipes, pumping, and purification systems), the removal of the corrosive effects of soluble boron, and from improved safety effects. However, removing soluble boron creates its own set of specific challenges that must be overcome. Traditional pressurized water reactors employ soluble boron for uniform power suppression throughout the core. Thus any boron-free SMR design requires increased dependence on control rods and burnable poisons, where both are discrete neutron absorbers that locally impact the core where they are inserted. Since control rods are partially inserted, their presence negatively impacts the axial power profile and this distortion creates undesirable power peaks, leading to a reduced operating margin and a significant economic burden. Thus, the main challenge in any boron free design concerns excess reactivity suppression and active reactivity control while maintaining a proper axial power profile and reduced power peaks. The goal of the feasibility study is to investigate the physical effects of removing soluble boron, and to investigate and identify an effective strategy for containing power peaks in a boron-free SMR. Studsvik's CASMO-4E was employed to solve 2-D Transport equation for infinite lattice analysis, and SIMULATE-3K was employed to solve 3-D nodal diffusion equation for full core analysis. The study identified improved reactivity feedback mechanisms associated with the removal of soluble boron, arising from a softened neutron flux and a decreased production of plutonium. An analysis of strategies for soluble boron-free operation that involved axially grading burnable poisons and U²³⁵ enrichment percentages was found unable to be able to control the axial power profile throughout core lifetime. The inherent limitations in the lifetime of burnable poisons resulted in an inability to control the axial power profile through middle and end of cycle. Investigations of additional strategies involving an advanced control rod algorithm produced significantly improved results that met the prescribed criteria for success. The advanced control rod algorithm is thus recognized as a viable strategy for boron-free operation for SMRs.
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  • description.provenance : Rejected by Julie Kurtz(julie.kurtz@oregonstate.edu), reason: Hi Justin, I am rejecting for two reasons, one to make the changes to the commencement date at the bottom of the title page to read - Commencement June 2014. Second, Your ScholarsArchive@OSU submission has been rejected because you attached a CC0 or Public Domain License to your work. These licenses mean that you have "dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of your rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. Others can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission." We strongly suggest that you don't attach either of these licenses. We're assuming you probably meant to add a Creative Commons license to your work so that others could use it, but you intended to retain your copyrights. Please re-submit* your work and choose "Creative Commons License" from the License Type drop down box. You'll then be asked two questions about how you want people to use your work. You can also choose "No Creative Commons License". *To re-submit your work, log into ScholarsArchive@OSU. Your rejected submission will be in your Submissions & Tasks work file. You can just resume the submission. All your information will still be in the form; you need to change only the CC License page. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Sue Kunda: sue.kunda@oregonstate.edu OR 541-737-7262. Thanks, Julie on 2013-07-08T20:23:48Z (GMT)
  • description.provenance : Submitted by Justin Mart (martj@onid.orst.edu) on 2013-07-06T00:08:29Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1089 bytes, checksum: 0a703d871bf062c5fdc7850b1496693b (MD5) MartJustinR2013.pdf: 2807546 bytes, checksum: d79358387e14c865b9a257fe1676fc4b (MD5)
  • description.provenance : Approved for entry into archive by Laura Wilson(laura.wilson@oregonstate.edu) on 2013-07-23T17:42:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1223 bytes, checksum: d127a3413712d6c6e962d5d436c463fc (MD5) MartJustinR2013.pdf: 2781294 bytes, checksum: c220692c09324434e930b43f57f7bea2 (MD5)
  • description.provenance : Approved for entry into archive by Julie Kurtz(julie.kurtz@oregonstate.edu) on 2013-07-15T20:53:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1223 bytes, checksum: d127a3413712d6c6e962d5d436c463fc (MD5) MartJustinR2013.pdf: 2818604 bytes, checksum: 3c49776f222116a03be95a8016a2f4a6 (MD5)
  • description.provenance : Made available in DSpace on 2013-07-23T17:42:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1223 bytes, checksum: d127a3413712d6c6e962d5d436c463fc (MD5) MartJustinR2013.pdf: 2781294 bytes, checksum: c220692c09324434e930b43f57f7bea2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-14
  • description.provenance : Rejected by Laura Wilson(laura.wilson@oregonstate.edu), reason: Rejecting so you can check pdf. on 2013-07-17T15:55:33Z (GMT)
  • description.provenance : Approved for entry into archive by Julie Kurtz(julie.kurtz@oregonstate.edu) on 2013-07-22T15:37:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1223 bytes, checksum: d127a3413712d6c6e962d5d436c463fc (MD5) MartJustinR2013.pdf: 2781294 bytes, checksum: c220692c09324434e930b43f57f7bea2 (MD5)
  • description.provenance : Submitted by Justin Mart (martj@onid.orst.edu) on 2013-07-08T21:36:21Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1223 bytes, checksum: d127a3413712d6c6e962d5d436c463fc (MD5) MartJustinR2013.pdf: 2818604 bytes, checksum: 3c49776f222116a03be95a8016a2f4a6 (MD5)
  • description.provenance : Submitted by Justin Mart (martj@onid.orst.edu) on 2013-07-20T00:30:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1223 bytes, checksum: d127a3413712d6c6e962d5d436c463fc (MD5) MartJustinR2013.pdf: 2781294 bytes, checksum: c220692c09324434e930b43f57f7bea2 (MD5)

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