Dynamic analysis of a pressurised water reactor

An apparent malfunction in a pressurised water reactor system was investigated using fluctuation analysis. Both frequency-domain and time-domain analyses were used and the results obtained by the two methods were compared. The recording was performed by a relatively simple, cheap system giving high recording precision and the analyses were performed on an IBM digital computer. It is shown that, while considerable information can be derived from frequency-domain analyses, a misinterpretation can occur in some cases. Time-domain correlation, as normally performed, was not very informative. However, time-domain correlation on bandwidth-limited time-series proved to be very valuable and could remove the misinterpretation of the frequency-domain analyses. The bandwidth limitation was performed by digital filters. (author)