Demonstration of the reactivity constraint approach on SNL's annual core research reactor

This paper reports on the initial demonstration of the reactivity constraint approach and its implementing algorithm, the MIT-CSDL Non-Linear Digital Controller, on the annual core research reactor (ACCR) that is operated by the Sandia National Laboratories. This demonstration constituted the first use of reactivity constraints for the closed-loop, digital control of reactor power on a facility other than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) research reactor (MITR-II). Also, because the ACRR and the MITR-II are of very different design, these trials established the generic nature of the reactivity constraint approach.