On-line reconstruction of in-core power distribution by harmonics expansion method

Fixed in-core detectors are most suitable in real-time response to in-core power distributions in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). In this paper, a harmonics expansion method is used to reconstruct the in-core power distribution of a PWR on-line. In this method, the in-core power distribution is expanded by the harmonics of one reference case. The expansion coefficients are calculated using signals provided by fixed in-core detectors. To conserve computing time and improve reconstruction precision, a harmonics data library containing the harmonics of different reference cases is constructed. Upon reconstruction of the in-core power distribution on-line, the two closest reference cases are searched from the harmonics data library to produce expanded harmonics by interpolation. The Unit 1 reactor of DayaBay Nuclear Power Plant (DayaBay NPP) in China is considered for verification. The maximum relative error between the measurement and reconstruction results is less than 5.5%, and the computing time is about 0.53 s for a single reconstruction, indicating that this method is suitable for the on-line monitoring of PWRs.

► A harmonics expansion method for the on-line in-core power reconstruction is proposed.
► A harmonics data library is pre-generated off-line and a code named COMS is developed.
► Numerical results show that the maximum relative error of the reconstruction is less than 5.5%.
► This method has a high computational speed compared to traditional methods.