Book Description

" .. In this dissertation xenon oscillations in pressurized water reactors are analyzed, using linear stability analysis and weak nonlinear analysis based on the multiple time-scales method. The dynamics are described by a spatiotemporal nonlinear model, which includes feedback processes of xenon absorption, as well as fuel and coolant temperature changes. It is shown that the homogeneous steady-state solution that describes normal operation of a large reactor can go through uniform Hopf bifurcations at several values of the neutron ux, and the long-wavelength modes that can grow beyond the instability thresholds are identied. Moreover, the dependence of the minimal core size, beyond which spatial perturbations may rise, on physical parameters such as the reactor power and the neutron diffusion length is described. ..." -- from the abstract.