Conceptual development of the plant operations regulator for nuclear power plant operating flexibility

The conceptual design of the plant operations regulator(POR) is presented for the pressurized water reactor plants. The POR is a digital supervisory limitation control system. The POR assures that the plant does not exceed the operating limits by regulating the plant operations through monitoring the operating margins of the critical parameters. The POR is aimed at increasing the operating flexibility which allows the nuclear plant to meet the grid demand in very efficient manner. It responds to the grid demand without penalizing plant availability by limiting the load demand or by modifying the plant control schemes when the operating limits are approached or violated. The POR design concepts were tested using simulation responses of the 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactors, Yonggwang Units 3 and 4. The simulation results illustrate that the POR can be used to improve operating flexibility. (Author)