design and implementation of a fuzzy controller for a triga mark iii reactor

The design and testing of a fuzzy rule based controller to regulate the power of a TRIGA Mark III research nuclear reactor are presented. The design does not require the current exact parameters of the point kinetic equations of the reactor. Instead, from a qualitative analysis of the actions taken by the operators during the reactor’s operation, a set of control rules is derived. The rules cover the operation of the reactor from low levels of about dozens of watts up to its full power level of one megawatt. The controller is able to increase power from different initial values to a wide range of desired levels, maintaining constant levels for long periods of time. The controller’s output is the external reactivity, which is further converted to a control rod incremental movement. The fuzzy controller is implemented on the reactor’s digital operating console, and the results of a series of experiments are discussed.