METHOD FOR PERFORMING STAR/ARWV RECONCILIATION

A method for transitioning a nuclear reactor during initial cycle startup to a power generating state is disclosed. The method includes setting the nuclear reactor to a zero power state, eliminating lower power physics tests (LPPTs) for a current cycle of the nuclear reactor based on a predetermined set of criteria, and setting the nuclear reactor to the power generating mode without performing the LPPTs, based on the reconciliation. The eliminating includes predicting, using a first design code, a first set of values for factors of the LPPTs, developing, using data from past cycles of the nuclear reactor, empirical formulas for the factors of the LPPTs, predicting, using the empirical formulas, a second set of values for the factors of the LPPTs, and reconciling the first values with the second values.