Axpo Power AG

Company

Axpo is driven by a single purpose – to enable a sustainable future through innovative energy solutions. As Switzerland's largest producer of renewable and nuclear energy and an international leader in energy trading and the marketing of solar and wind power, we combine the experience and expertise of more than 5000 employees driven by a passion for innovation, collaboration and impactful change. Through cutting-edge technologies, we innovate to meet the evolving needs of our customers in over 30 countries across Europe, the US and Asia.

Your responsibilities

The control rod position is one of the most critical parameters in reactivity control in a PWR. Any durable deviation from the standard control rod arrangement (ARO or all-rods-out, at KKB) have major consequences on the core. It is therefore continuously monitored by two independent systems, namely the RPI and the RCS.

If these systems fail, it could be difficult to detect a rod drop or drift. As a backup solution, the Advanced Flux Map System (AFMS) can be used. The AFMS in-core travelling probes measure accurately the power distribution within the core. Therefore the faulty insertion of a rod could be inferred from the abnormal measured power distribution.

The internship will be focused on studying the impact of control rod insertion on both measurements and simulations.

The expected outcome is the determination of the minimum faulty insertion of a control rod in the core resulting in a visible deviation in the AFMS results.

Your profile

• Good basic knowledge about PWRs
• Good Python programming skills are required for data processing
• Independent work attitude
• Fluent in spoken and written English (German is a plus)

We offer

You will have the opportunity to work alongside nuclear experts and apply your academic and research background in real industrial applications. In this project you will have the opportunity to work at the Beznau nuclear power plant (with home-office option). The duration of the project is restricted to a 3-months summer internship.