NUKEFACT #7

FUTURE ESSAYS and COMING ATTRACTIONS

last update March 14, 1997

This being the seventh NUKEFACT essay, perhaps its time to take stock of where we've been and where we're going. Each of the first five essays identified a major misconception about reactor behavior. These are key concepts that form the very foundation necessary for understanding the nuclear reactor. The sixth essay introduced a Reactor Rate Diagram which is a more powerful training tool than any rate curve found in current training programs (as will be demonstrated in the next several essays). So what have we left for future discussion? The answer is ... plenty! The following list is a sampling that extends the NUKEFACTS index.

• Determining Reactor Rate from the Reactor Rate Diagram
  
• Using the Reactor Rate Diagram to Track Reactor Rate Response with Time
  
• Generation Time Does NOT Account for Reactor Controllability
  
• How a Nuclear Reactor Works: An Overview
  
• The Character of Reactor Behavior : The Challenge of Reactor Control
  
• The Reason for Using Reactivity Instead of Delta-k
  
• The (Only) Two Causes of Ongoing Reactor Power Change
  
• Why Five Doubles to Criticality ?
  
• Power Reversal is Crucial to Reactor Safety
  
• Detector Geometry is NOT the Only Cause for the Shape of the 1/M Curve
  
• The Fraction of Fast Neutrons That Cause Fission
  
• The Minimum Possible Power at Criticality
  
• Delayed Neutrons are NOT Insignificant at Prompt Criticality
  
• Reactor Period is NOT (beta - rho)/(lambda x rho) + (l*/rho)
  
• The Need for Reactivity Meters in the Control Room
  
• The Prompt Jump Approximation and Reactor Rate
  
• k_eff Does NOT Apply Directly to the Chain Reaction
  
• The Reactor Rate Diagram in the Power Range; in the Sub-Critical Region
  
• Can Non-Fission Neutrons Really Cause Linear Power Increase at Criticality ?
  
• The Need for Computers in the Class Room
  
• Reactivity Management Without a Reactivity Meter
  
• How to Evaluate a Reactivity Ramp from Equilibrium Multiplication
  
• How to Evaluate a Reactivity Ramp from Criticality
  
• If not the Self-Sustaining Chain, What is Important About Criticality?
  
• The Effective Decay Constant for the One Delay Group Model
  
• How to Evaluate a Step Change in Reactivity
  
• Incorrect Test Items in the INPO Catalog (Several Issues)
  
• Four Ways a Reactor Scram Terminates a Power Excursion
  
• Operational Evolutions: Examples of a Reactor Startup, Shutdown, etc. (Several Issues)

And, there will be more. But, just to cover the above topics at the rate of one every week or two is going to take some time. And besides the above, there will be additions to the training resource library, including more quizzes, more exams, plus graphics for display in ClassRoom instruction to enhance your program. Topics will not necessarily appear in the order shown. In any case, all good reason for you to revisit this homepage frequently.