10. Reactor Shutdown and Reactor Restart

The power referred to most frequently in reactor physics is neutron power. Neutron power is essentially the fission rate multiplied by the average prompt energy released and recovered per fission (see Section 2.1.2). It is also called “prompt” power, as it appears very quickly following fission. We cannot measure neutron power directly, but we do monitor the neutron flux with ion chambers located outside the calandria and in-core flux detectors. These neutronic signals are calibrated to the thermal-power measurement which allows neutron power to be derived.