How Fast Can You Start Up a Reactor? - Nuclear Engineer Explains

[toottootfinn]

Does this just mean that the submarine can get to full output faster?

[disprag]

In a fast recovery, you don't monitor your approach to criticality at all. We nominally call the reactor critical around 1 dpm, but keep shimming to get SUR higher. Normally, I would release the switch around 4 dpm and it would coast up to about 5, which was the limit. That is so fast usually by the time you get there you only have seconds to reduce SUR less than 1 dpm so you don't blow past your power limits.

[marvinbanks]

What is a fast reactor, and why is it special?

[catalinamarquez]

You can't even catch your eyes can't even see it 😂😂❤❤❤ I can

[cascadianrangers]

So in the science fiction that I'm writing the primary adversary is very heavily cybernetically augmented post-human and I wanted him to have a micro fission reactor as a power supply, that isn't normally running but can be fired up if other power systems fail or a lot more energy is required... how fast could that sort of thing kick in? Could you blow out the control rods with explosive bolts and instantly go critical?