Study on neutronic safety parameters of BAEC TRIGA research reactor

Measurement and validation of safety parameters of a nuclear reactor are required for reactor start up, normal power operation, experimental research and shutdown. The reactivity of the control rod is one of the important parameters for management of reactor operations, and is used for the prediction of control rod position at startup and the estimation of the core excess reactivity during the reactor operation. In this study, some reactor safety parameters such as control rod worth, core excess reactivity, shutdown margin, reactivity changes by fuel and control rods, and temperature effect on reactivity has been measured using digital instrumentation & control (I&C) system of the BAEC TRIGA Research Reactor (BTRR). All of these safety parameters have significant effects on the reactor control system. The measured total worth of all control rods of BTRR are 14.888 $, 14.672 $, 14.348 $ for 1.5 folding time, doubling time, 5 folding time, respectively. The measured reactivity has also been compared with the previously measured reactivity. The core excess reactivity and shutdown margin were found to be 6.38 $ and 5.20 $, respectively. The measured values were found to be within the safety limit as mentioned in the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) of the BTRR.