Nuclear Instrumentation and Control

This book presents the basic and advanced research topics under the broad domain of nuclear instrumentation and control. It also covers various novel approaches that are adopted by the designers of nuclear systems for improved efficiency and safety, which demands state-of-the-art control and instrumentation techniques and technology. Various topics covered in this book are radiation monitoring systems, reactor instrumentation, neutron detectors,  instrumentation for sodium cooled fast reactors, core monitoring aspects in thermal reactor systems, developments in gamma detectors leading to sophisticated characterization tools in materials science and medical diagnosis among many others. The book will be useful for the researchers and professionals in the allied fields.

Dr. Umapathy Mangalanathan was born in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, India, in 1967.  He received the bachelor’s degree in instrumentation and control engineering from the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, in 1988; master’s degree in precision engineering and instrumentation from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, in 1990; and the Ph.D. degree in systems and control engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, in 2001. He was Graduate Engineer Trainee in Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) India Limited, Neyveli, for a year and served as Scientist with Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Government of India, Pune, for six years. He joined the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India, as Assistant Professor, in 1996, where he is currently Professor Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) in the Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering. His research interests include Sensor, Instrumentation, Applications of Smart Materials in Sensing and Control, and Energy harvesting. He received Eminent Engineer Award from IEI (India) Madurai local center in 2013, Best Teacher Award from NIT, Trichy, in 2007, Young Scientist Fellowship Award from TNSCST, Chennai, in 1999, and Commendation Certificate from DRDO, Ministry of Defence, in 1996. He has 220 publications that include book, book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers, also has three Indian patents. He also carried out 14 funded research and development projects from various funding agencies, guided 19 Ph.D. dissertations at NIT Trichy.  He served as Dean, Research and Consultancy, Deputy Director of NIT, Trichy, and Head of the department of instrumentation and control engineering, NIT, Trichy.     Dr. Akhilanand Pati Tiwari, (B.S. Engineering, Ph.D. (Systems and Control Engineering), Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineering), had a distinguished career of more than 37 years at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai, India, and at the Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India. He is currently serving as Visiting Professor, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India.  He has carried out research activities and projects in the areas of Control and Estimation with application to Small and Large Research and Power Nuclear Reactors. He has worked on Research Reactors, namely Dhruva, Purnima-III, and Kamini, and on power reactors, namely 500 MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) units TAPS-3 and 4 and Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR). His work spans Mathematical Modeling, Simulation, Control Analysis and Design, and Process Instrumentation and Control Design. Among his significant contributions are development and deployment of Liquid Zone Control System and Reactor Regulating System for TAPS-3 and 4 PHWR units and Reactivity Meter for Small PWR-Type Reactors and Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), Kalpakkam. He teaches postgraduate courses ‘Modern Control System Design and Simulation’ and ‘State-space Approach to Reactor Control,’ offered at BARC Training School, Mumbai, under auspices of Homi Bhabha National Institute. Akhilanand has contributed several international journal publications, mostly in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Annals of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Engineering and Design. He has delivered invited talks in IAEA Technical Meetings. His talks have featured the advanced work carried out by him on spatial control, reactivity measurement, and development of nuclear reactor simulators. Dr. Uma Gandhi was born in Madurai, India, in 1967. She received the bachelor’s degree in instrumentation and control engineering from the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, in 1989; master’s degree in instrumentation engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology, Anna University, Chennai, in 1992; and Ph.D. degree in instrumentation and control engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, in 2009. She was Teaching Research Fellow with the Madras Institute of Technology from 1990 to 1993 and served as Senior Technical Officer in the Department of Science and Technology (DST) funded R&D project in Madras Institute of Technology, Anna University, from 1993 to 1994. She was Head of the Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, Sethu Institute of Technology, Madurai, India, from 1995 to 1999. She joined the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India, as Lecturer in 1999, where she is currently Professor in the Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering. Her research interests include Design and Development of Instrumentation Systems, Design of Sensors and Actuators in Meso- and Micro-scale, MEMS, Energy Harvesting, Bio-medical Instrumentation, and AI for Bio-medical Applications. In 2001, she received Young Scientist Fellowship from Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology under which she worked in the Thin Film Laboratory, Department of Instrumentation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. she has 150 publications that include book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers and also has three Indian patents. She also carried out 10 funded research and development projects from various funding agencies, guided 13 Ph.D. dissertations at NIT Trichy.  She served as Head of the department of instrumentation and control engineering, NIT, Trichy, and currently serving as Dean, Institutional Development and Alumni Relations of NIT, Trichy.