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The source range monitors (SRMs) and the start-up range neutron monitors (SRNMs) are important instruments from the BWR criticality safety viewpoints. There is a limitation of the minimum count rate (3cps) to guarantee the normality of the SRMs/SRNMs. After the long outage, this limitation is critical for the fuel shuffling due to the decay of the neutron sources in the fuel. The neutron source intensity evaluation method based on a micro burn-up model and the predictor function of the SRM/SRNM count rate are developed in AETNA01, GNF's three-dimensional neutronic-thermal hydraulic boiling water reactor (BWR) core simulator. These new functions are validated through the comparisons between operating BWR's measured data after shutdown and during shuffling. Through these comparisons, high accuracy of the SRM/SRNM count rate predictor of AETNA01 was presented.

Reactor Physics that treat the essentials of how fission nuclear reactors work fundamentally has played important roles in safe operations and design studies of various types of nuclear reactors. From the latest activities in the field of reactor physics, this report summarizes some outstanding researches and developments published in scientific journals, including the Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology and others.