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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Gilberto Espinosa-Paredes, Jose Alvarez-Ramirez, Alejandro Nuñez-Carrera, Alfonso Garcia-Gutierrez, Elizabeth Jeannette Martinez-Mendez
Nuclear Technology | Volume 145 | Number 2 | February 2004 | Pages 150-162
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT04-A3466
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A comparative analysis of the dynamic behavior of a boiling water reactor in a full-scope power plant simulator for operator training is presented. Three- and four-equation reactor core models were used to examine three transients following tests described in acceptance test procedures: scram, loss of feedwater flow, and closure of main isolation valves. The three-equation model consists of water and steam mixture momentum, including mass and energy balances. The four-equation model is based on liquid and gas phase mass balances, together with a drift-flux approach for the analysis of phase separation. Analysis of the models showed that the scram transient was slightly different for three- and four-equation models. The drift-flux effects can explain such differences. Regarding the loss-of-feedwater transient, the predicted steam flow after scram is larger for the three-equation model. Finally, for the transient related to the closure of main steam isolation valves, the three-equation model provides slightly different results for the pressure change, which affects reactor level behavior.