Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method for expanding a licensed operating domain of a boiling water nuclear reactor, the operating domain characterized by a map of the reactor thermal power and core flow, said method comprising the steps of:providing analyses and evaluations to generate a safety analysis report;providing licensing support; andproviding technical consultation;wherein providing analyses and evaluations comprises the step of:determining an elevated load line characteristic that permits operation of the reactor in an upper operating region defined by an upper boundary line, the upper boundary line comprising a first endpoint of about 120 percent rated thermal power at about 85 percent core flow and a second endpoint of about 100 percent rated thermal power at about 55 percent core flow. 2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein providing analyses and evaluations further comprise the steps of:performing safety evaluations at the elevated load line to determine compliance with safety design parameters; andperforming operational evaluations at the elevated load line. 3. A method in accordance with claim 2 further comprising the step of defining a set of operating conditions for the reactor in the upper operating domain characterized by the elevated load line. 4. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein performing operational evaluations at the elevated load line comprises the steps of:evaluating plant maneuvers;evaluating frequent plant transients;evaluating plant fuel operating margins;evaluating operator training;evaluating plant equipment response and setpoints. 5. A method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising the step of establishing constraints and requirements for plant equipment and plant procedures based on the operational evaluations. 6. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein the reactor comprises a core recirculation system including control components, said method further comprising the steps of performing a detailed analysis of the performance of the core recirculation system and performing a detailed analysis of the core recirculation system control components. 7. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein the reactor comprises a control rod pattern, flow controls, and pressure controls, said method further comprising the steps of providing automatic adjustment of the control rod pattern, the flow controls, and the pressure controls based on a detection of a reactor transient. 8. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein the reactor comprises process controls and computers, said method further comprising the steps of modifying the reactor process controls and computers to permit the reactor to operate in the expanded operating domain within predetermined safety parameters. 9. A method in accordance with claim 2 further comprising the step of creating a safety analysis report based on the safety evaluations.