Simulation of the VVER-1000 pump start-up experiment of the OECD V1000CT benchmark with CATHARE and TRAC-PF1

In the framework of joint effort between the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of OECD, the United States Department of Energy (US DOE), and the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA), France a coupled three-dimensional (3D) thermal-hydraulics/neutron kinetics benchmark for VVER-1000 was defined. The benchmark consists of calculation of a pump start-up experiment labelled V1000CT-1 (Phase 1), as well as a vessel mixing experiment and main steam line break (MSLB) transient labelled V1000CT-2 (Phase 2), respectively. The reference nuclear plant is Kozloduy-6 in Bulgaria. The overall objective is to assess computer codes used in the analysis of VVER-1000 reactivity transients. A specific objective is to assess the vessel mixing models used in system codes. Plant data are available for code validation consisting of one experiment of pump start-up (V1000CT-1) and one experiment of steam generator isolation (V1000CT-2). The validated codes can be used to calculate asymmetric MSLB transients involving similar mixing patterns. This paper summarizes a comparison of CATHARE and TRAC-PF1 system code results for V1000CT-1, Exercise 1, which is a full plant point kinetics simulation of a reactor coolant system (RCS) pump start-up experiment. The reference plant data include integral and sector average parameters. The comparison is made from the point of view of vessel mixing and full system simulation. CATHARE used a six-sector multiple 1D vessel thermal-hydraulic model with cross flows and TRAC used a six-sector, 18-channel coarse-mesh 3D vessel model. Good agreement in terms of integral parameters and inter-loop mixing is observed.     

RETRAN-3D analysis of the base case and the four extreme cases of the OECD/NRC Peach Bottom 2 Turbine Trip benchmark

This paper presents the results of RETRAN-3D calculations of the base case and the four extreme cases of phase 3 of the Peach Bottom 2 OECD/NRC Turbine Trip benchmark for coupled thermal-hydraulic and neutronic codes. The PSI-RETRAN-3D model gives good agreement with the measured data of the base case. In addition to the base case, the analysis of the extreme cases provides a further understanding of the reactor behaviour, which is the result of the dynamic coupling of the whole system, i.e., the interaction between the steam line and vessel flows, the pressure, the Doppler, void and control reactivity and power. For the extreme cases without scram the bank of safety relief valves is able to mitigate the effects of the turbine trip for short times. The 3-D nature of the core power distribution has been investigated by analysing the power density of the different thermal-hydraulic channels. In all cases prior to the reactor scram the course of the power is similar in all the channels with differences of the order of a few percent showing that, by and large, the core acts in a coherent manner. At the time of maximum power, the axial power distribution in the different channels is increased at the core centre with respect to the distribution at time zero, by an amount, which is different for the different channels.     

Full scale dynamic tests of Atucha II NPP

This paper summarizes the main results of a series of dynamic tests of the reactor building of Atucha II NPP performed to determine the dynamic properties of its massive structure deeply embedded in quaternary soil deposits. Tests were performed under two different types of loading conditions: steady state harmonic loads imposed by mechanical exciters and impulsive loads induced by dropping a weight on the ground surface in the vicinity. Natural frequencies and mode shapes were identified and the associated modal damping ratios were experimentally determined. Numerical analyses of the reactor building-foundation system by two different F.E. models were performed. One of them, based on an axisymmetric representation of the soil-structure system, was used to simulate the steady state vibration tests and to calculate the dynamic stiffness of the foundation slab and soil layers for comparison with those experimentally obtained. The other, a 3-D F.E. model of the superstructure, was used to assess the natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained from the tests, representing dynamic stiffness of the foundation with stiffness coefficients derived both from the tests and from the axisymmetric F.E. model. Good agreement of the natural frequencies given by two types of tests were generally found, with the largest difference between them in the fundamental frequency of the building. Estimates of modal damping derived from the tests showed significant differences depending on the technique used to calculate them. For the fundamental mode, damping was found to be 23–42%, gradually decreasing with frequency to 2–4% for 10 Hz.     

Simulation of the VVER-1000 pump start-up experiment in the OECD/DOE/CEA V1000CT benchmark by the FLICA4/CRONOS2 coupled code system

In the framework of joint effort between the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of OECD, the United States Department of Energy (US DOE), and the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), France, a coupled 3-D thermal–hydraulics/neutron kinetics benchmark was defined. The overall objective of OECD/NEA V1000CT benchmark [Ivanov, B., Ivanov, K., Groudev, P., Pavlova, M., Hadjiev, V., 2002. VVER-1000 Coolant Transient Benchmark (V1000-CT). Phase 1 – Final Specifications, NEA/NSC/DOC] is to assess computer codes used in the analysis of VVER-1000 reactivity transients where mixing phenomena (mass flow and temperature) in the reactor pressure vessel are complex. Original data from the Kozloduy-6 Nuclear Power Plant are available for the validation of computer codes: one experiment of pump start-up (V1000CT-1) and one experiment of steam generator isolation (V1000CT-2). The CEA presented results for the V1000CT-1 Exercise 2 using a coupling of FLICA4 [Toumi, I., Gallo, D., Bergeron, A., Royer, E., Caruge, D., 2000. FLICA4: a three dimensional two-phase flow computer code with advanced numerical methods for nuclear applications. Nuclear Engineering and Design 200, 139–155] and CRONOS2 [Akherraz, B., Baudron, A.M., Lautard, J.J., Magnaud, C., Moreau, F., Schneider, D., Gonzales, M., 2004. Manuel de Référence CRONOS 2.6. Technical Report SERMA/LENR/RT/04-3433/A, CEA] via the coupling tool ISAS [Toumi, I., et al., 1995. Specifications of the general software architecture for code integration in ISAS. Euratom Fusion Technology, ITER task S81TT-01/1]. The FLICA4/CRONOS2 VVER-1000 model is based on the data available in the benchmark specifications. This paper summarizes the FLICA4/CRONOS2 model build-up with the associated sensitivity studies and presents the CEA results for V1000CT-1 Exercise 2 as well as a comparison with experimental results at hot power steady state (HP SS).     

Analysis of a multigroup stylized CANDU half-core benchmark

An 8-group cross section library is provided to augment a previously published 2-group 3D stylized half-core Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactor benchmark problem. Reference eigenvalues and selected pin and bundle fission rates are also included. This benchmark is intended to provide computational reactor physicists and methods developers with a stylized model problem in more than two energy groups that is realistic with respect to the underlying physics. In addition to transport theory code verification, the 8-group energy structure provides reactor physicist with an ideal problem for examining cross section homogenization and collapsing effects in a full-core environment. To this end, additional 2-, 4- and 47-group full-core Monte Carlo benchmark solutions are compared to analyze homogenization-free transport approximations incurred as a result of energy group condensation.     

Results of simulations of stability and quench behavior for pulsed tests of the ENEA 12T Nb3Sn CICC coil

In the ENEA Frascati Laboratory a facility is being assembled to test the ENEA Nb₃Sn CICC coil in pulsed regimes. The characteristics of the coil (dimensions, cable-in-conduit conductor, strand designed for use in variable field) are such to make these tests of primary importance to predict the behaviour of the ITER (International Thermo-nuclear Experimental Reactor) Central Solenoid Model Coil, which will be built in the next two years. In particular, the stability and quench behaviour of the coil will be tested and compared to the predictions of the thermo-hydraulic analysis code SARUMAN. Other important parameters will be the ramp rate limination, the limiting current and the conductor losses. Several testing scenarios (ramp up and discharge) are described and the present status of testing programme definition is given, together with the associated analyses.     

Impact of cross-section generation procedures on the simulation of the VVER-1000 pump startup experiment in the OECD/DOE/CEA V1000CT benchmark by coupled 3D thermal-hydraulics/neutron kinetics models

In the framework of joint effort between the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of OECD, the United States Department of Energy (US DOE), and the Commissariat a l'Enerige Atomique (CEA), France a coupled three-dimensional (3D) thermal-hydraulics/neutron kinetics benchmark was defined. The overall objective of OECD/NEA V1000CT benchmark is to assess computer codes used in analysis of VVER-1000 reactivity transients where mixing phenomena (mass flow and temperature) in the reactor pressure vessel are complex. Original data from the Kozloduy-6 Nuclear Power Plant are available for the validation of computer codes: one experiment of pump start-up (V1000CT-1) and one experiment of steam generator isolation (V1000CT-2). Additional scenarios are defined for code-to-code comparison. As a 3D core model is necessary for a best-estimate computation of all the scenarios of the V1000CT benchmark, all participants were asked to develop their own core coupled 3D thermal-hydraulics/neutron kinetics models using the data available in the benchmark specifications and a common cross-section library. The first code-to-code comparisons based on the V1000CT-1 Exercise 2 specifications exhibited unacceptable discrepancies between two sets of results. The present paper focuses on the analysis of the observed discrepancies. The VVER-1000 3D neutron kinetics models are based on cross-section data homogenized on the assembly level. The cross-section library, provided as part of the benchmark specifications, thus consists in a set of parameterized two group cross sections representing the different assemblies and the reflectors. The origin of the observed large discrepancies was found mainly to lie in the methods used to solve the diffusion equation. The VVER reflector properties were also found to enhance discrepancies by increasing flux gradients at the core/reflector interface thus highlighting more the difficulties in some codes to handle high exponential flux gradients. This paper summarizes the different steps applied to analyze the neutronic codes and their predictions as well as the impact of cross-section generation procedures.     

中子学积分实验前级准直系统的设计

积分实验是检验评价中子核数据可靠性和精准度的重要手段,效应/本底比是衡量积分实验数据品质的重要参数。为了获得更高的效应/本底比,对中国原子能科学研究院积分实验使用的前级准直系统进行了设计,该系统主要由前级准直器和阴影锥组成。利用MCNP-4C程序对不同条件下的本底谱进行了模拟,结果显示,加上前级准直系统之后,效应/本底比有非常明显的改善。     

A system of benchmark neutron fields in research reactors

A system of benchmark neutron fields, which together with the special State standard gives unity and the required practical accuracy for reproducing the units of neutron flux density and fluence in nuclear reactors, is developed. The neutron characteristics of the fields and the foreign and domestic analogs are presented. 1 figure, 2 tables, 32 references. State Science Center of the Russian Federation—All-Russia Scientific-Research Institute of Physicotechnical and Radioelectronic Measurements. Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 88, No. 5, pp. 378–387, May, 2000.     

Use of poly(methyl methacrylate) in radioactive waste management: II. Monte Carlo simulations

Radioactive waste is generated from the nuclear applications and it should properly be managed in a radioactive waste management system. Different methods are available for treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste. Polymers can be used in the radioactive waste management as an embedding matrix. Poly(methyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a possible candidate material that can be used in the low level radioactive waste management. In this study, based on total resistible dose for PMMA, maximum waste activity that can be embedded into a waste drum was found via Monte Carlo simulations. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations for radioactive waste embedded into above mentioned polymer was performed and the dose rate distribution in the polymer matrix was determined for the initial and different periods of 15.1, 30.2 and 302 years after embedding of waste. Changes of mechanical properties in the polymer embedded waste drum was simulated for PMMA embedded waste matrices based on experimental data.     

Generation of neutron transport benchmark problems using BEAPAC-3T

A method is described how a quantitative measure can be obtained for the accuracy of numerical methods for the solution of neutron transport problems in an arbitrary homogeneous multidimensional medium. An expansion for the combining coefficients of singular eigenfunctions is developed that yields exact elementary plane-wave solutions that can be evaluated very accurately in terms of exponential integral functions. Linear combinations of these solutions are automatically generated which approximate, in the least squares sense, a user specified incident flux distribution on the boundary of a multidimensional benchmark cell domain. The generated solution is exact for a new benchmark problem which has incident flux given precisely by the generated solution. The quantitative error analysis method has been implemented in the code BEAPAC-3T and is illustrated by application to the TWOTRAN-II code for a square domain problem.     

Computer simulations of sputtering

Monte Carlo simulations have become a useful tool for studying ion radiation effects at or near surfaces or interfaces, such as sputtering, reflection, mixing, etc. The principal advantage of Monte Carlo calculations is that any physical process can be included directly. Also multielement and multilayer targets, even complex geometries, can be treated exactly in order to simulate realistic cases.The present paper will concentrate mainly on sputtering calculations with the Monte Carlo code TRIM, which treats ion and recoil transport in amorphous matter. It is based — as are analytic theories and most other Monte Carlo codes — on binary collisions with target atoms initially at rest. Over the past few years, the basic physical input has been greatly improved. Both the interatomic potentials and the electronic stopping powers proved to be of crucial importance even for the lowest energies occurring in recoil cascades. With the Kr-C or universal potential and the recent ZBL electronic stopping, which includes the Z oscillations, and a planar surface binding energy set equal to the heat of sublimation, realistic sputtering predictions could be obtained for most metals — without the use of any adjustable parameters.     

基于组件计算的燃耗实验基准题建模分析

组件计算在堆芯核设计中占有重要地位。组件程序的燃耗计算精度对核反应堆堆芯的功率分布、换料寿期及反应性控制设计方面具有重要意义。为了评估用于堆芯燃耗计算的多群常数库的准确性,本文运用DRAGON计算程序建立了燃耗实验计算模型,采用SFCOMPO-2.0燃耗实验基准题提供的乏燃料样品燃耗历史参数及最终核素组分信息,对Takahama-3反应堆、H.B. Robinson-2反应堆及Beznau-1反应堆系列样品进行了建模计算,并将计算结果与SFCOMPO-2.0数据库中的基准实验结果进行了对比和分析。结果表明:多数核素的模拟结果与基准值符合良好,误差在10%以内。同时本文对理论计算值与基准实验值存在差异较大的几种核素进行了相应讨论,并对样品计算结果进行了对比分析。     

Sprays in containment: Final results of the SARNET spray benchmark

The influence of containment sprays on atmosphere behaviour, a sub-task of the Work Package WP12-2 CAM (Containment Atmosphere Mixing), has been investigated through benchmark exercises based on TOSQAN (IRSN) and MISTRA (CEA) experiments. These tests are being simulated with lumped-parameter (LP) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes. Both atmosphere depressurization and mixing are being studied in two phases: a ‘thermalhydraulic part’, which deals with depressurization by sprays (TOSQAN 101 and MISTRA MASPn), and a ‘dynamic part’, dealing with light gas stratification break-up by spray (TOSQAN 113 and MISTRA MARC2b).In the thermalhydraulic part of the benchmark, participants have found the appropriate modelling to obtain good global results in terms of experimental pressure and mean gas temperature, for both TOSQAN and MISTRA tests. It can thus be considered that code users have a good knowledge of their spray modelling parameters. On a local level, for the TOSQAN test, single droplet behaviour is found to be well estimated by some calculations, but the global modelling of multiple droplets, i.e. of the spray, specifically for the spray dilution, is questionable in some CFD calculations. It can lead to some discrepancies localized in the spray region and can thus have a high impact on the global results, since most of the heat and mass transfers occur inside this region. In the MISTRA tests, wall condensation mass flow rates and local temperatures were used for code-experiment comparison and show that improvement of the local modelling, including initial conditions determination, is needed.In this dynamic part, a general result, in both tests, is that calculations do not recover the same kinetics of the mixing. Furthermore, concerning global mixing, LP contributions seem not suitable here. For the TOSQAN benchmark, the one-phase CFD calculations recover partially the phenomena involved during the mixing, whereas the two-phase flow CFD contributions generally recover the phenomena. Moreover, one important result is also that none of the contributions finds the exact amount of helium remaining in the dome above the spray nozzle in the TOSQAN 113. Discrepancies are rather high (above 5%vol of helium). Results are thus encouraging, but the level of validation should be improved. The same kind of conclusions can be drawn for the MISTRA MARC2B tests.As a conclusion of this SARNET spray benchmark, the level of validation obtained here is encouraging for the use of spray modelling for risk analysis. However, some more detailed investigations are needed to improve model parameters and decrease the uncertainty for containment applications as well as to increase the predictability of the phenomena within the containment analyses. Further activities are well encouraged on this topic, such as numerical benchmarks on analytical separate-effect experiments.     

Mechanical behavior of δ-phase Pu-Ga alloys. Part II: Model verification and application

We validated the mechanical threshold strength (MTS) model, developed in Part I, with approximately 50 different experimental results from the literature for both yield strength and ultimate tensile strength on Pu-Ga alloys. One standard deviation of the differences between the model’s yield-strength predictions and the experiments was 7.5% of the measured yield strength. The model also worked well predicting the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the alloys with gallium concentrations of 1 wt% or greater, although the accuracy of the UTS predictions was not as good as for yield strength. After validating the model, we studied the effects of gallium concentration, grain size, iron and nickel content, and carbon concentration on the yield strength of Pu-Ga alloys. The gallium concentration affected the yield strength more than any other microstructural variable. The yield strength increased 50% between 1 at.% Ga and 5.4 at.% Ga alloying addition. The grain size also produced a measurable strengthening effect, typical of other face-centered cubic metals. The yield strength increased 15% with a reduction in grain size from 50 μm to 10 μm. Finally, we found that there were no observable yield-strength effects resulting from different amounts of iron, nickel, or carbon impurities.     

Wavelet approach for analysis of neutronic power using data of Ringhals stability benchmark

We have studied neutronic power oscillation in a boiling water nuclear reactor for three different scenarios of the Ringhals stability benchmark with a proposed wavelets-based method: the first scenario is a stable operating state which was considered as a base case in this study, and the last two correspond to unstable operating conditions of in-phase and out-of-phase events. The results obtained with the methodology presented here suggest that a wavelet-based method can help the understanding and monitoring of the power dynamics in boiling water nuclear reactors. The stability parameters frequency and decay ratio were calculated as a function of time, based on the theory of wavelet ridges. This method allows us to analyze both stationary and highly non-stationary signals. The resonant frequencies of the oscillation are consistent with previous measurements or calculated values.     

Behavior of thorium-uranium (IV) phosphate-diphosphate sintered samples during leaching tests. Part II. Saturation processes

Sintered pellets of thorium-uranium (IV) phosphate-diphosphate solid solutions (β-Th_4−xU_x(PO₄)₄P₂O₇, β-TUPD) were altered in several acidic media. All the results reported in the first part of this paper confirmed the good chemical durability of the samples. The evolution of the normalized weight loss showed that, in several media, thorium quickly precipitates in a neoformed phosphate-based phase while uranium (IV) is released in the leachate due to its oxidation into the uranyl form. The characterization of neoformed phases was carried out through several techniques involving grazing XRD, infrared and μ-Raman spectroscopies, EPMA, SEM and TEM. SEM micrographies showed that the dissolution mainly occurs at the grain boundaries, leading to the break away of the grains: only the first 15 μm are altered for 2 months in 10⁻¹ M HNO₃. From EPMA and BET measurements, neither the chemical composition nor the specific surface area are significantly modified. Near equilibrium, two neoformed phases were observed and identified by grazing XRD and/or μ-Raman spectroscopy at the surface of the leached pellets: one is found to be amorphous and progressively turns into the crystallized thorium phosphate-hydrogenphosphate hydrate (TPHPH). From the results obtained, a chemical scheme of the dissolution of β-TUPD sintered samples is proposed. The behavior of the actinides in the gelatinous phase appears mainly driven by their oxidation state: thorium remains in the tetrapositive state and is quickly and quantitatively precipitated while uranium (IV) is oxidized into uranyl then released in the leachate. The Th-precipitation as TPHPH first appears scattered then covers the entire surface of the pellet, inducing a delay of the actinides release in the leachate. Both phases act as protective layers and should induce the significant delay of the release of actinides (Th, U) to the biosphere.