General Design Functions of the Nuclear Engineer
The design and operation of a large-nuclear power plant is an enormously complex task and involves the coordination of a remarkably diverse range of disciplines. Each major component of the plant has a separate and distinct design basis and is usually the responsibility of a specific engineering operational team. For example, the design of the reactor pressure vessel or steam generators is usually performed by the reactor supplier, while the turbogenerator and switchgear design is the responsibility of the electrical equipment manufacturer. Understanding these different designs is extremely important, since the designs frequently interact to a very high degree, and impact the safe operation of the plant. The primary responsibility for the nuclear design of the reactor core rests with the nuclear engineer either at the fuel supplier or at the utility. This design must be accomplished meeting numerous conflicting constraints imposed on the reactor operation.
The nuclear analysis and design of a reactor core is highly dependent on other areas of core design, including thermal hydraulic design, economic performance, and so on. The criteria for a design effort encompass considerations of safety, performance, reliability and economics. These criteria are frequently contradictory in nature, and hence require optimization, without compromising safety.
The complete nuclear design of a given core configuration is performed in an iterative manner, initially to survey design parameters, identify constraints, then to refine the design while interacting with other facets of the plant design, and finally, to establish a reference reload design that provides a calculational base against which further optimization calculations can be compared. The core design process requires complex digital computer programs that model the reactor core and plant. One important task of the nuclear reactor engineer is to develop models of the reactor core such that can then be analyzed on the computer. Such models result in large computer programs or "codes" which can then be used by other nuclear engineers in reactor design. Most of our emphasis in this course is on learning how to develop component models for reactor behavior and to use them in a suitable form for reactor design calculations. These calculations will determine the state and behavior of the reactor core or fuel for different situations.
The relationship between computers and reactor design cannot be overstressed. It is almost impossible for the nuclear engineer to function without a background in computer techniques (both in programming and numerical analysis). The increasingly heavy reliance of the nuclear reactor industry on computational models for reactor performance makes it even more imperative that the nuclear engineer possess a thorough background and knowledge in the fundamental physical and mathematical concepts underlying reactor core and system models.
The complete nuclear design of a given core configuration is performed in an iterative manner, initially to survey design parameters, identify constraints, then to refine the design while interacting with other facets of the plant design, and finally, to establish a reference reload design that provides a calculational base against which further optimization calculations can be compared. The core design process requires complex digital computer programs that model the reactor core and plant. One important task of the nuclear reactor engineer is to develop models of the reactor core such that can then be analyzed on the computer. Such models result in large computer programs or "codes" which can then be used by other nuclear engineers in reactor design. Most of our emphasis in this course is on learning how to develop component models for reactor behavior and to use them in a suitable form for reactor design calculations. These calculations will determine the state and behavior of the reactor core or fuel for different situations.
The relationship between computers and reactor design cannot be overstressed. It is almost impossible for the nuclear engineer to function without a background in computer techniques (both in programming and numerical analysis). The increasingly heavy reliance of the nuclear reactor industry on computational models for reactor performance makes it even more imperative that the nuclear engineer possess a thorough background and knowledge in the fundamental physical and mathematical concepts underlying reactor core and system models.
posted by Nuclear Engineer @ 12:45 PM
1 Comments:
Good post.
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