PULSTRI-1 computer program for mixed core pulse calculation

PUISTRI-1 is a computer code designed for calculations of the pulse parameters of TRIGA Mark II reactor with mixed core. The code is provided with data for four types of fuel elements: standard 8.5 and 12 w/o, LEU and FLIP. The pulse parameters, such as maximum power, prompt pulse energy and average fuel temperatures are calculated in adiabatic point kinetics, approximation, modified by taking into account temperature dependence of fuel temperature reactivity coefficient and thermal capacity factor averaged over all elements in the core. Maximal fuel temperature at power peaking location is calculated from total released energy using total power peaking factor and heat capacity of the element at the location of the power peaking. Results of the code were compared to data found in references (mainly General Atomics safety analysis reports) showing good agreement for all main pulse parameters. The most important parameters, average and maximal fuel temperature, are found to be systematically slightly overpredicted (20 C and 50 C, respectively). Other parameters (energy, peak power, width) agree within ± 10 % to the reference values. The code is written in FORTRAN for IBM PC computer. The input is user friendly. running time of IBM PC AT is a few seconds. It is designed for practical applications in pulse experiments as an analytical tool for predicting pulse parameters. (orig.)