A system for monitoring fissile material contents inside of a nuclear reactor can include at least a first neutron detector positioned outside a radiation shield and configured to detect a plurality of neutrons originating from the reactor core and having passed through the radiation shield, and configured to generate a first output signal, and a controller communicably linked to the first neutron detector to receive the first output signal and a power output of the nuclear reactor.

A system for monitoring fissile material contents inside of a nuclear reactor can include at least a first neutron detector positioned outside a radiation shield and configured to detect a plurality of neutrons originating from the reactor core and having passed through the radiation shield, and configured to generate a first output signal, and a controller communicably linked to the first neutron detector to receive the first output signal and a power output of the nuclear reactor.

A reactor water radioactivity concentration of a nuclear power plant can be predicted with high accuracy. First, a plant state quantity prediction value is calculated by using a physical model that describes plant state quantities of the power plant including a flow rate of feedwater and a metal corrosion product concentration in feedwater of the reactor water is calculated. Next, data for supervised learning is created, and the data for supervised learning includes the previously calculated plant state quantity prediction value and a plant state quantity such as the flow rate of feedwater, the metal corrosion product concentration in feedwater, a metal corrosion product concentration in reactor water, and a radioactive metal corrosion concentration of the reactor water in the reactor as input data and includes a radioactive metal corrosion concentration in the reactor water which is an actual measured value as output data, and a predictive model is trained.

A reactor water radioactivity concentration of a nuclear power plant can be predicted with high accuracy. First, a plant state quantity prediction value is calculated by using a physical model that describes plant state quantities of the power plant including a flow rate of feedwater and a metal corrosion product concentration in feedwater of the reactor water is calculated. Next, data for supervised learning is created, and the data for supervised learning includes the previously calculated plant state quantity prediction value and a plant state quantity such as the flow rate of feedwater, the metal corrosion product concentration in feedwater, a metal corrosion product concentration in reactor water, and a radioactive metal corrosion concentration of the reactor water in the reactor as input data and includes a radioactive metal corrosion concentration in the reactor water which is an actual measured value as output data, and a predictive model is trained.

A nuclear reactor is provided. The reactor includes a reactor pressure vessel housing plural fuel rods containing fissile material, the reactor pressure vessel having an upper, removable, vessel head. The reactor further includes control rods, each made of a neutron-absorbing material. The control rods are inserted into the reactor through the vessel head and between the fuel rods to control the rate of the fuel rods' fission reaction. The control rods are movable over a normal range of insertion positions relative to the vessel head to control the power output of the reactor when it is critical and generating useful power, and to put the reactor in a sub-critical shutdown state. The reactor further includes control rod drive mechanisms carried by the vessel head and operable to drive the movements of the control rods. The control rod drive mechanisms are controllable to release the control rods when a vessel opening operation is performed in which the reactor is in the shutdown state and the vessel head is lifted upwards from the reactor pressure vessel such that the control rods slide therethrough to remain stationary relative to the fuel rods to maintain the shutdown state. The reactor further has monitoring unit to identify whether a control rod is accidently lifting with the vessel head.

A dry cask storage system for spent nuclear fuel includes a detection apparatus having a resonant electrical circuit, with resonant electrical circuit being situated within an interior region of a metallic vessel wherein the SNF is situated. The detection apparatus includes a transmitter that generates an excitation pulse that causes the resonant circuit to resonate and to generate a response pulse. The resonant circuit includes an inductor that is formed with a core whose magnetic permeability varies with temperature such that the frequency of the resonant circuit varies as a function of temperature. The response pulse is then used to determine the temperature within the interior of the vessel where the SNF is situated. Pressure detection is also provided.

Disclosed is a process method and system for upfront sampling and characterization to selectively and representatively sample for activation levels of nuclear reactor core irradiated metal alloy internal components using a specialized robust hard metal reactor bit hollow tungsten carbide sampling head in conjunction with bespoke angled sampling gantry. The invention relates to the field of a nuclear reactor metal alloy vacuum hollow sampling head, sampling gantry, and retrieval system. The nuclear-activated metal alloys are drilled and sampled using a TruProBit® metal cutting drill bit. The long hollow drill bit with a hollow metal sampling head traverses the nuclear reactor metal layers and void spaces to cut and retrieve only metal alloy samples. The dry vacuumed airflow picks up the discrete incremental sample of metal filings, chips, and dust produced by the hollow metal cutting edges of the sampling head into a filter and then analyzed for radionuclides of concern.

Disclosed are a voltage drop measurement system and methods for measuring resistivity of a nuclear reactor cladding. The system includes a short cladding sample of a nuclear reactor cladding. Two electrically conductive plugs are attached to the short cladding. A power supply is electrically coupled to the each of the two electrically conductive plugs and is configured to apply an electrical current to the short cladding through the two electrically conductive plugs. Two needle like probes are electrically coupled to a surface of the short cladding between the two electrically conductive plugs. The needle like probes are spaced apart by a distance L. Resistivity and heat flux are determined in accordance with Equations (1)-(4).

Disclosed are a voltage drop measurement system and methods for measuring resistivity of a nuclear reactor cladding. The system includes a short cladding sample of a nuclear reactor cladding. Two electrically conductive plugs are attached to the short cladding. A power supply is electrically coupled to the each of the two electrically conductive plugs and is configured to apply an electrical current to the short cladding through the two electrically conductive plugs. Two needle like probes are electrically coupled to a surface of the short cladding between the two electrically conductive plugs. The needle like probes are spaced apart by a distance L. Resistivity and heat flux are determined in accordance with Equations (1)-(4).

A system for servicing a nuclear reactor module comprises a crane operable to attach to the nuclear reactor module, wherein the crane includes provisions for routing signals from one or more sensors of the nuclear reactor module to one or more sensor receivers.