Reactor technology

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The reactor technology is the study of the construction of nuclear fission reactors , both in the civilian and military sectors. It is an engineering discipline in the classic sense, even though it is closely related to the scientific treatment of technically used nuclear fission, reactor physics.

The term reactor physics , which cannot be clearly defined, generally refers to the neutron physics of nuclear fission reactors , i.e. topics such as chain reaction , criticality , neutron flux , moderator (physics) , neutron absorber , four-factor formula or reactivity coefficient . Reactor physics should not be confused with nuclear physics , which deals with the structure and interactions of atomic nuclei , or even with atomic physics , which mainly deals with descriptions of the atomic shell and its interaction with the atomic nucleus.

An important calculation model for reactor physics is the two-group model of the point reactor . The location dependency of the processes within the reactor core is ignored and the actually continuous distribution of the kinetic energy of the neutrons is roughly approximated as two “neutron groups”, thermal and fast neutrons (for details see neutron flux ). For the correct design of a power reactor, however, a combination of more exact, usually numerical, mathematical models is essential.

Educational institutions

Reactor technology is currently (2014) taught at the following universities:

  • Chair for Reactor Safety and Technology, RWTH Aachen: Hans-Josef Allelein
  • Institute for Fusion Technology and Reactor Technology, KIT Karlsruhe: Robert Stieglitz, Xu Chen
  • Nuclear Engineering course, ETH Zurich with EPF Lausanne : H.-M. Prasser, Andreas Pautz and others
  • II. Physics Institute, Georg-August University Göttingen: Hans Hofsäss

literature

  • Dieter Smidt: Reactor technology . 2 volumes, Karlsruhe 1976, ISBN 3-7650-2018-4 .
  • RH Zahoransky (Ed.): Energy technology . 6th edition. Springer Vieweg 2013, ISBN 978-3-8348-2279-6 .
  • A. Ziegler, H.-J. Allelein (Hrsg.): Reaktortechnik : Physical-technical basics . 2nd Edition. Springer-Vieweg, 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-33845-8 .

Especially for reactor physics:

  • S. Glasstone, MC Edlund: The Elements of Nuclear Reactor Theory. Van Nostrand, New York 1966.
  • Dieter Emendörfer, Karl-Heinz Höcker: Theory of Nuclear Reactors , Vol. 1, Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1982, ISBN 3-411-01599-3 .