Entry requirements

110 credits within a bachelor or master program in mechanical or electrical engineering. Participation in Reactor Physics.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course the student shall be able to:

• summarize the main process (operating functions) of both Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) and Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR), and relate the two reactor types to each other;
• outline the structure of the reactor facility and its various operating functions for both BWR and PWR
• explain design criteria and fuel damage mechanisms
• explain safety-related design principles for a Light Water Reactor (LWR).
• explain the start-up and shutdown processes in a Light Water Reactor, and relate various reactivity feedbacks in different operating situations for both BWR and PWR;
• assess the various limitations that exist for the core and fuel for BWR and PWR
• account for an individual's responsibility in striving for high personal and facility safety
• explain the meaning of the guiding principles underlying the dose and emission limits decided by authorities and their application in nuclear power plant work
• justify the rules/procedures to be applied when passing to and from a controlled area
• orally and in writing, account for and discuss information, problems, and solutions in collaboration with different groups
• with well-explained and justified calculations, determine electrical voltages, currents, impedances, and active and reactive powers in electrical circuits with several different components.

Content

Reactor technology for the two types of light water reactors, BWR and PWR, that exist in Sweden. How the operating functions in the main process are usually detailed. Core operation and its boundary conditions. Safety strategies and the design of the plant's safety functions. How today's nuclear power plants are designed to minimize the risk of emissions of radioactive substances and ionizing radiation to the surrounding environment. Different safety functions and barriers and how they work. Depth defense, redundancy, and diversification.

To gain plant knowledge, lectures are supplemented with study visits to one or more nuclear technical facilities.

Preparatory lectures in electrical engineering adapted to the students' varying backgrounds.

Instruction

Combined lectures, calculation exercises, computer exercises, and homework. Mandatory study visits and labs at one or more nuclear technical facilities.

Assessment

Lab reports and homework. Individual oral exam

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.