ROLE OF CORE NEUTRONIC PARAMETER MEASUREMENTS IN MONITORING THE REACTIVITY OF THE PROTOTYPE FAST-REACTOR AT DOUNREAY

This Paper presents a review of the measurements made in support of the operational monitoring of core reactivity in Dounreay's Prototype Fast Reactor. The methods and results obtained in three physically different regimes of operation are described; during refuelling with the reactor fully shut-down, the transition from fully shut-down to power operation, and operation at power. Where methods depend on parametric models of the reactor performance, some of the support measurements validating the models are described. Also, where appropriate, measurements are compared with calculations employing best-prediction methods and data.