HW-2

Due March 8, 2016

Q.1 A pressurized water reactor at full power has an average power density of
and a peaking factor of

After the reactor has operated for several days,

a. What is the average xenon concentration?

b. What is the maximum xenon concentration?

c. What is the average samarium concentration?

d. What is the maximum samarium concentration?

(Assume a fission cross section of

Q.2 A reactor is started up and operated at constant power. Solve Eqs.:

and determine the iodine and xenon concentration as a function of time.

Q.3 Under load following conditions, a reactor operates each day at full power for 12 hours,
followed by a shutdown of 12 hours. Calculate the iodine concentration, I(t), over a 24 hour time
span. Use the periodic boundary condition I(24 hr)=I(0).
Q.4 Thorium-232 is a fertile material that may be transmuted to fissile uranium-233 through the
following reaction:

where the half-lives are indicated. Assume that a fresh core is put into operation containing only
thorium-232 and uranium-235. Thereafter neutron capture in thorium takes place at a constant
rate of

a. Assuming that the half-life of can be ignored, write down and solve the differential

equation for the concentration of

b. Write down and solve the differential equation for the concentration of

(Assume )