Automation of the reload design process

The reload design process for PWRs has been automated through the use of microcomputer and micro-to-mainframe computer-technology. The engineering analysis required to determine PWR core loading patterns which meet energy requirements and design constraints has been automated in a phased development at UAI. The resulting workstation aids in the preliminary design process of determining a core loading pattern in which the fuel enrichment, burnable poison loading, re-insertion of bundles and the placement of bundles are considered. The preliminary design workstation was then extended to provide multicycle scoping analysis capability. This paper describes the automation process, the software, the benchmarking and the resulting workstations