How do control rods get in there?

[middlephysics]

How do control rods get in there!?

This is a bit annoying for me, hopefully someone can help.

You have fuel pellets in rods. They are en capsuled by cladding to make sure fission fragments cannot escape into the moderator. Do the fission neutrons pass through this cladding into the open space between the rods (where the moderator slows them down) and then pass the cladding of the next adjacent fuel rod to enter and fission with that fuel??

..if not, then how does it work? Please and THANK YOU.


(and happy holidays to all)

 

[etudiant]

The neutrons do need to bounce around a bit to get down to the right speed before they can fission another atom, so your understanding is correct.
The control rods manage the overall neutron economy of the reactor, removing neutrons to slow or stop the fission rate.

 

[Kidphysics]

Thank you for the reply I think my main misunderstanding is this: does the fission neutron escape one fuel cladding and enter into the cladding of another fuel assembly?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Forgot which sockpuppet you are using again?

 

[middlephysics]

Forgot which sockpuppet you are using again?

lol apologies I replied via email. You know, originally I wanted middle physics as a way to rid myself of all my stupid question history. Looks like I still have very stupid questions. I think the neutrons exit the cladding of one rod pass through the moderator and enter the cladding of another rod to continue the reaction.


I have no qualms with the moderators deleting kidphysics. There is no motive or troll here. I just wanted to rid myself of my stupid question history and have a fresh slate.

 

[Astronuc]

This is a bit annoying for me, hopefully someone can help.

You have fuel pellets in rods. They are en capsuled by cladding to make sure fission fragments cannot escape into the moderator. Do the fission neutrons pass through this cladding into the open space between the rods (where the moderator slows them down) and then pass the cladding of the next adjacent fuel rod to enter and fission with that fuel??

..if not, then how does it work? Please and THANK YOU.


(and happy holidays to all)

Most commercial reactors are light-water reactors (LWRs), of which most are pressurized-water reactors (PWRs and VVERs), others are boiling-water reactors (BWRs), and fewer are heavy-water reactors (PHWRs or CANDUs) and graphite moderates (RBMK, AGRs).

In PWRs, the control rods reside above the core, with the tips engaged in the upper part of the assembly, just above the top of the fueled region. They are suspended by a magnetic coupling that will de-energize when tripped. The control rods fall into the core under gravity. Neutrons are also absorbed by burnable poisons in the fuel, e.g., gadolinium, erbium or boron (in the form of ZrB₂) for the purpose of reactivity control, or otherwise soluble boron (in the form of boric acid, H₃BO₃, which must be buffered with LiOH, or in the case of VVERs, KOH) in the coolant.

In BWRs, the control rods are used in the core for reactivity control, and they are 'swapped' in groups periodically to balance the power peaking and burnup distribution in the core. BWR control rods are hydraulically operated with water. The moderator/coolant boils in the core.

In LWRs, fission neutrons are produced in the fuel. Some fast neutrons will produce fissions (about 8-10% of fissions come from fast neutrons). Otherwise, fast neutrons slow to low (thermal) energies in the moderator, and they must pass out of the fuel, through the cladding, and into the moderator, then through cladding again into the fuel. It is possible that a neutron will return to the fuel rod from which it originated, but the probability is low.

 

[middlephysics]

Otherwise, fast neutrons slow to low (thermal) energies in the moderator, and they must pass out of the fuel, through the cladding, and into the moderator, then through cladding again into the fuel.

this is exactly what I was looking for, thanks Astronuc!