A stable adaptive fuzzy control scheme for tracking an optimal power profile in a research nuclear reactor

•An adaptive fuzzy control scheme for power tracking in a nuclear reactor is presented.•The controller incorporates fuzzy systems to identify the reactor’s dynamics.•The controller minimizes the tracking error between the reference and reactor power.•The scheme prevents the shutdown due to an excursion off-limits of the reactor period.

An innovative adaptive fuzzy control scheme for power tracking in a research nuclear reactor is presented. The reference power profile is devised to attain the desired power in the minimum possible time while maintaining the period parameter above the safety limit value at all times. The controller incorporates a group of fuzzy systems to identify the reactor’s nonlinear dynamics. The Lyapunov stability theory is used to establish a procedure for the adjustment of the fuzzy system free parameters. Likewise, a supervisor stage keeps the power error within a bounded region. To validate the control scheme, the dynamics of the reactor is modeled by the set of point kinetic equation. The simulation results show the feasibility of using this approach as a new technique to regulate the power in a TRIGA-type research nuclear reactor.