Reviews
reactor stability as compared to reactor control system stability.
Chapters 5-7 deal with the system optimization. In Chapter 5, Pontryagin's maximum principle is introduced through the calculus of variations.
There are several printing errors in this chapter. The Hamilton-Jacobi method, the matrix Riccati equation and the complex-domain approach to optimization are outlined in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 is concerned with the application of the theories developed in Chapters 5 and 6 to the control of nuclear reactor systems. Special emphasis is given to optimal power-level changes for various performance indices, such as minimum control rod motion, minimum control energy and minimum time. Optimum shutdown programs for minimum xenon build-up and the optimal heatexchange process are included. "State-variable Feedback Design" is the subject of Chapters 8 and 9. The design criterion is the exact realization of a desired system response through statevariable feedback. Met,hods of design are developed in Chapter 8. The treatment here is similar to the text by Schultz and Melsa (McGraw-Hill, 1967). The final chapter presents the statevariable feedback design of control systems for several reactor models.
The attractiveness of the book lies in the care with which it was done and in its wealth of examples. As a text its drawback is that it does not contain any problems.