Reactor power setback: A procedure to reduce thermal shock on FBR components

Reactor power setback is a procedure to avoid reactor SCRAM for events originating from balance of plant, which do not affect the operation of boiler feed pumps that supply coolant to steam generators. This procedure is envisaged to avoid reactor components from being subjected to thermal shock due to SCRAM for some of the events which do not affect nuclear safety. In this procedure, all control rods of the reactor are driven down simultaneously to achieve a pre-determined lower power level. Appropriate plant parameters have been identified for the automatic triggering of power setback procedure on the occurrence of those events which are envisaged to be managed through this procedure. Knowledge of the transient thermal hydraulic behavior of the whole plant during various events is essential to formulate the operating procedure. Plant dynamics code DYANA-P developed for PFBR has been utilized for this purpose. This paper discusses (i) events for which this procedure can be adopted, (ii) detailed implantation scheme of power setback, (iii) transient thermal hydraulic behavior of the whole plant during this procedure and (iv) benefits of this procedure.

► Automatic procedure for implementation of reactor power setback in a fast reactor.
► Plant dynamic modeling of a sodium cooled fast breeder reactor.
► Selection of optimum value for the reduced power level and set of plant parameters for triggering power setback.