NUCLEAR DESIGN SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS FOR A FUSION REACTOR

Conceptual and preliminary reactor systems studies require many quick survey calculations to determine changes of certain important design parameters in response to changes of layout, material compositions, and other design features. Effective methods to perform such design sensitivity analyses are described and applied to the nuclear design of a fusion reactor. Generalized perturbation theory is used to calculate sensitivities of integral nuclear design parameters to certain design changes. The accuracy of this method is evaluated for specific cases where large ranges of design perturbations are considered.