Modified Block Newton method for the lambda modes problem

To study the behaviour of nuclear power reactors it is necessary to solve the time dependent neutron diffusion equation using either a rectangular mesh for PWR and BWR reactors or a hexagonal mesh for VVER reactors. This problem can be solved by means of a modal method, which uses a set of dominant modes to expand the neutron flux. For the transient calculations using the modal method with a moderate number of modes, these modes must be updated each time step to maintain the accuracy of the solution. The updating modes process is also interesting to study perturbed configurations of a reactor. A Modified Block Newton method is studied to update the modes. The performance of the Newton method has been tested for a steady state perturbation analysis of two 2D hexagonal reactors, a perturbed configuration of the IAEA PWR 3D reactor and two configurations associated with a boron dilution transient in a BWR reactor.

► The Modal Method is based on expanding the solution in a set of dominant modes. ► Updating the set of dominant modes improve its performance. ► A Modified Block Newton Method, which use previous calculated modes, is proposed. ► The method exhibits a very good local convergence with few iterations. ► Good performance results are also obtained for heavy perturbations.