An Automated Procedure for Selection of Optimal Refueling Policies for Light Water Reactors

An automated procedure determining a minimum cost refueling policy has been developed for light water reactors. The procedure is an extension of the equilibrium core approach previously devised for pressurized water reactors (PWRs). Use of group theory has improved the accuracy of the nuclear model and eliminated tedious fitting of albedos. A simple heuristic algorithm for locating a good starting policy has materially reduced PWR computing time. Inclusion of void effects and use of the Haling principle for axial flux calculations extended the nuclear model to boiling water reactors (BWRs). A good initial estimate of the refueling policy is obtained by recognizing that a nearly uniform distribution of reactivity provides low-power peaking. The initial estimate is improved upon by interchanging groups of four assemblies and is subsequently refined by interchanging individual assemblies. The method yields very favorable results, is simpler than previously proposed BWR fuel optimization schemes, and retains power cost as the objective function.