Extraction of Mechanical-Reactivity Influences from Neutron Noise Spectra at the IBR-2 Reactor

Neutron noise spectra in nuclear reactors are a convolution of multiple-induced reactivities. For the IBR-2 pulsed reactor (JINR-Dubna), one part is represented by the reactivities induced by the two moving reflectors, and the other part by other sources that are moderately stable. In the present study, using recordings of the mechanical noise of the two moving reflectors, their non-linear correlations into the power spectra of the reactor are extracted using statistical analysis. The remaining noise sources are moderately stable noise and can be further monitored by other automated reactor diagnoses.