Technology

Science and Nature

Operating Reactors Safely and Reliably

Nuclear Engineering Fundamentals, Reactor Physics, Fuel, and Systems Design Best PracticesBy Yelena Strogova

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Length15h 36m

About this audiobook

A reactor is a controlled neutron economy—and every indication on the panel traces back to it. This book makes that connection explicit. You will build the neutron life cycle and the six-factor formula from the ground up, learn why delayed neutrons make a reactor steerable at all, compute rod worth and shutdown margin, and follow a xenon transient through a power reduction to see why a restart window closes. Rather than treating physics, fuel, thermal hydraulics, and plant systems as separate subjects, the text links them into one operating picture: how reactivity is created, controlled, and ultimately limited by the fuel and the coolant. Fuel chapters cover burnup, pellet-clad interaction, and the reliability practices that keep cladding intact. Thermal-hydraulic chapters take you to critical heat flux and the margin that defines safe power. Plant chapters compare pressurized water, boiling water, heavy water, gas-cooled, and small modular designs, then work through startup, power maneuvering, shutdown cooling, decay heat, and emergency core cooling. The final chapters connect defense in depth, containment, probabilistic risk, radiation protection, outages, and operating experience to the daily decisions made in the control room and in engineering support. What you will learn: • How cross sections, fission energy, and the neutron life cycle determine criticality and the six-factor formula • Why delayed neutrons and reactivity feedback make a reactor controllable, and how kinetics governs power changes • How control rods, soluble boron, and shutdown margin are calculated and verified • How temperature coefficients and inherent feedback stabilize or challenge a core • How xenon and samarium transients constrain power maneuvering and restart windows • How fuel design, burnup, and pellet-clad interaction affect fuel reliability • How core thermal hydraulics, departure from nucleate boiling, and critical heat flux define safe power limits • How pressurized water, boiling water, heavy water, gas-cooled, and small modular reactors differ in systems and operation • How decay heat, shutdown cooling, emergency core cooling, containment, and probabilistic risk support defense in depth For nuclear engineering students, plant staff in training, and technically literate readers who want a rigorous but accessible path from neutron economy to safe, reliable operation.

Audiobook details

GenreTechnology, Science and Nature

Length15 hrs 36 mins

Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices

FormateBook with Audio

Publish dateSep 27, 2026

LanguageEnglish

1Operating Reactors Safely and Reliably

2Foreword

3Preface

4About This Book

5Important Safety Notice

Show all chapters

6Chapter 1: Nuclei, Cross Sections and Fission Energy

71.1 Nuclear Structure, Binding Energy and the Fission Reaction

81.2 Microscopic and Macroscopic Cross Sections

91.3 Neutron Flux, Reaction Rates and the Energy Spectrum

101.4 Energy Release, Fission Products and Decay Heat Origins

111.5 Neutron Sources, Multiplication and the Idea of a Chain Reaction

12Chapter 2: The Neutron Life Cycle and Criticality

132.1 Moderation, Slowing Down and Thermalization

142.2 Resonance Capture, Resonance Escape and Leakage

152.3 The Six-Factor Formula and the Effective Multiplication Factor

162.4 Criticality, the Multiplication Factor and Core Geometry

172.5 Conversion, Breeding and the Fuel Cycle Context

18Chapter 3: Reactivity, Delayed Neutrons and Reactor Kinetics

193.1 Reactivity, Its Units and the Multiplication Factor

203.2 The Point Kinetics Equations and Delayed Neutron Groups

213.3 The Prompt Drop, the Stable Period and the Inhour Equation

223.4 Prompt Criticality and the Limits of Control

233.5 Source Multiplication and the Subcritical Approach

24Chapter 4: Control Rods, Soluble Boron and Shutdown Margin

254.1 Differential and Integral Rod Worth

264.2 Soluble Boron, Dilution and the Boron Worth Curve

274.3 Rod Insertion Limits, Rod Misalignment and Shutdown Margin

284.4 Rod Control Systems, Drive Mechanisms and Failure Modes

29Chapter 5: Temperature Coefficients and Inherent Feedback

305.1 Fuel Doppler Broadening and the Fuel Temperature Coefficient

315.2 Moderator Temperature and Density Coefficients

325.3 Void Coefficient and the Two-Phase Moderator

335.4 The Power Coefficient, Stability and Load Following

34Chapter 6: Xenon, Samarium and Power Maneuvering

356.1 Xenon-135 Buildup, Equilibrium and Burnout

366.2 The Xenon Transient and the Restart Window

376.3 Samarium-149 and Other Poison Buildup

386.4 Axial Offset Control and Load Following Limits

39Chapter 7: Fuel Design, Burnup and Fuel Reliability

407.1 Fuel Pellets, Cladding and Assembly Design

417.2 Burnup, Reactivity Swing and Cycle Length

427.3 Pellet-Clad Interaction, Fission Gas and Crud

437.4 Quality Practices and Fuel Reliability

44Chapter 8: Core Thermal Hydraulics and Departure from Nucleate Boiling

458.1 Heat Generation and Heat Flux Profiles

468.2 Coolant Flow, Enthalpy Rise and Subcooled Boiling

478.3 Critical Heat Flux and Departure from Nucleate Boiling Margin

488.4 Natural Circulation, Flow Instability and Thermal Margin Protection

49Chapter 9: Reactor Types: Pressurized Water, Boiling Water, Heavy Water, Gas-Cooled and Small Modular

509.1 Pressurized Water Reactors

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