Design and Development of a Personal-Computer-Based Reactivity Meter for a Research Reactor

A personal computer with a data acquisition system interface was used to monitor an arbitrary time-dependent power signal of the Oregon State University TRIGA Reactor. Based on the time behavior of the reactor power, the reactivity was computed using a numerical solution to the point kinetics equations and displayed on a digital readout panel. Several types of measurements were used to verify the magnitude and time response of the calculated reactivity.