LFT model reduction and controller synthesis for a pressurized water reactor

We consider model reduction of and control design for the pressurized water reactor (PWR) of a nuclear power plant. Less conservative design and analysis results are obtained using a recent model reduction technique for uncertain systems modelled as linear fractional transformations (LFT) on repeated scalar uncertainty sets. Controllers for the PWR are then designed using /spl mu/-synthesis techniques. The change in both the operating power and reactivity of the fuel are modelled as slowly time-varying uncertainty, and the objective is to maintain performance over all parameter variations. The resulting closed loop performance of the PWR is compared to previous design results.