混合能谱超临界水堆失流事故缓解措施研究

使用改进的系统程序RELAP5建立了一个混合能谱超临界水堆(SCWR-M)模型。为研究混合能谱超临界水堆失流事故特性,以获取缓解混合能谱超临界水堆失流事故的措施,选取反应堆冷却剂泵惰转时间、压力容器上部储水空间容积和安注流量作为主要参数进行分析。研究表明,混合能谱超临界水堆系统的设计是可行的。反应堆冷却剂泵惰转15 s,压力容器上部水空间容积大于27 m³,以及安注流量高于系统满功率稳态流量的5%是缓解混合能谱超临界水堆失流事故的主要措施。     

Analysis of an RPV upper head SBLOCA at the ROSA facility using TRACE

Inspections of existing nuclear power plants have pointed out the possibility that small break loss-of-coolant accidents (SBLOCAs) could be initiated by a small break located in the upper head (UH) of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Such type of breaks has been the subject of investigation in some of the tests carried out in the framework of the OECD/NEA ROSA test program for safety research and safety assessment of light water reactors. The ROSA/LSTF test facility simulates a Westinghouse design PWR with a four-loop configuration and 3423 MWth. Areas, volumes and power are scaled down by a factor of 1:48 while the elevations are kept at full height. Only two loops, sized to conserve the volume scaling (2:48), are simulated. The present paper is focused on test 6-1 that simulated a RPV upper head SBLOCA with a break size equivalent to 1.9% cold leg break. The experiment assumes a total failure of the high pressure injection system (HPIS) and a loss of off-site power concurrent with the scram. The main purpose of the present study is the assessment of the capabilities of the best estimate system code, TRACE, to reproduce and understand the physical phenomena involved in this type of SBLOCA scenarios. Special attention was dedicated to the modelling of the leakage flows, necessary to correctly simulate the distribution of the water inventory in the primary side. In addition, the particular location of the break in test 6-1 allows the verification of the chocked flow model in the same way as for a separate-effect test.     

混合能谱超临界水冷堆反应性引入事故安全分析

本文研究了混合能谱超临界水冷堆(SCWR-M)在发生控制棒失控提升事故和弹棒事故这两类反应性引入事故后的反应堆系统响应。首先利用修改的可用于超临界条件下的系统程序RELAP5对混合能谱超临界水冷堆进行系统建模,并计算分析在功率运行工况下事故过程中功率、流量及包壳温度等重要参数的变化趋势,最后对反应性参数如控制棒价值、控制棒抽出速率和负反馈系数进行了参数效应分析。结果表明,在设计工况下混合能谱超临界水冷堆系统可有效地将衰变热导出堆芯,保证了燃料棒的完整性。另外,反应性参数对控制棒失控提升事故的安全性影响不大,但对弹棒事故的包壳峰值温度影响很大,过于保守的反应性参数估计会使安全裕量大为减小。     

A thermal-fluid assessment of a cooled-vessel concept for a VHTR

Flow distribution and thermal analyses of a conceptual design of a cooled vessel for a very high temperature reactor (VHTR), which has a forced vessel cooling with an internal coolant path through a permanent side reflector, have been performed. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code was employed to investigate flow distributions at inlet and upper plenums of the proposed cooled-vessel concept. Thermal-fluid analyses of the cooled vessel during a normal operation were carried out by using the CFD code with the boundary conditions provided by the GAMMA system analysis code. The transient analyses during postulated accidents were conducted by the GAMMA code itself. According to the results, the flow deviation at the riser holes due to a change of the inlet flow path to the core inlet is about ±20% which results in about a 3-7% core flow deviation from the average value depending on the upper plenum height. The pressure drops in the inlet and upper plenums are estimated to be from 13 to 25 kPa with a change of the upper plenum height. A cooling flow of more than 4 kg/s is sufficient to maintain the RPV temperature within the required limit during a normal operation. Transient analysis reveals that the reactor vessel is exposed to a temperature above its limit of 371 °C but this duration is shorter than the allowable time for a creep region with a sufficient safety margin. The results suggest that the cooled-vessel concept considered in this paper has the potential to be used for a VHTR but further and more detailed studies are required to realize the proposed concept.     

多用途一体化轻水堆初步设计方案和安全分析

为满足未来区域性核能供电、核供热、大规模制氢、海水淡化等需求,迫切需要一种结构简单、固有安全性高、经济性高的多用途反应堆.基于此,一种多用途的一体化轻水堆设计概念被提出,包括不同设备的初步设计方案和参数;根据其特点,利用最佳估算程序RELAP5对其中一个设计方案进行了稳压器汽腔破口事故和主泵断电引起的丧失流量事故的确定论安全分析.结果表明,在保守假设条件下,其固有特性和安全系统仍能保证堆芯始终处于被淹没状态,非能动余热排出系统可有效导出停堆后的长期衰变热,从而为进一步研究一体化轻水堆的设计和运行安全特性打下了基础.     

A study on the minimum steam cooling pressure of EOP for BWR power plants

The minimum steam cooling pressure (MSCP) is an important parameter for safe operation of boiling water reactor (BWR)-type nuclear power plant for the anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) scenario with reactor pressure vessel (RPV) water level unknown. Under such situation, the operator is requested to open the safety/relief valves (SRVs) and control the RPV pressure slightly above the MSCP so that adequate core cooling can be maintained. It is derived based on steam cooling strategy.The MSCP, defined to be the lowest RPV pressure at which the covered portion of the core, is capable of generating sufficient steam to preclude peak cladding temperature (PCT) in the uncovered portion of the core from exceeding 1088 K (1500 °F). It is calculated by two parameters - (1) the minimum bundle steam flow (Wg-1500) to maintain PCT < 1088 K (1500 °F) and (2) the number of SRVs available for opening.For current emergency operating procedure (EOP), only one set of MSCP derived based on one value of Wg-1500 for the ATWS condition. Furthermore, it is derived based on decay power of 2.2% rated power. Thus, the current MSCP used for the ATWS accident scenarios was deemed inadequate. The purpose of this paper (work) is to study the MSCP used in the ATWS conditions. For case of ATWS of 13% full power, controlling RPV pressure at MSCP of current approach ends up with core melt. The Wg-1500 is suggested to be replaced by the steam generation rate at minimum steam cooling RPV water level (MSCRWL), which is a function of power level. Simulation result indicates controlling RPV pressure at MSCP is equivalent to controlling the RPV water level at MSCRWL. The revised MSCP is dependent on the ATWS power level.     

承压热冲击下压水堆压力容器壁面换热特性的数值模拟研究

为了研究压水堆因安注冷水直接注入反应堆压力容器下降环腔而导致的承压热冲击（PTS）热工水力问题，基于1∶10比例模型，应用计算流体力学商用软件FLUENT5．4进行了紊流流动换热的数值模拟分析，同时进行了常压传热实验研究。针对下降环腔折算流速0．5m/s，安注流速10m/s的典型工况，研究了压力容器下降环腔的壁面换热特性。通过分析下降环腔内的流动及混合特性，从流动机理上解释了压力容器内壁上准重接触点附近换热强烈的现象，并指出壁面换热强弱与近壁流体紊流脉动动能密切相关，为热冲击分析提供参考。     

反应堆压力容器下降环腔在有安全注入流动时的瞬态温度变化

在1／10的比例模型上完成了反应堆压力容器下降环腔在有安全注入流动时的瞬态温度变化。实验考察了有一回路流动和无一回路流动对瞬态温度变化的影响。实验证明：无一回路流动时，下降环腔内瞬态温度的变化速度和幅值随安全注入充速的增加而增加；有一回路流动时，下降环腔内瞬态温度的变化幅值比同安全注入流速时无一回路流动的变化幅值要小。     

Design of a supercritical water-cooled reactor with a three-pass core arrangement

The Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) is one of the six concepts of the Generation IV International Forum. In Europe, investigations have been integrated into a joint research project, called High Performance Light Water Reactor (HPLWR). Due to the higher heat up within the core and a higher outlet temperature, a significant increase in turbine power and thermal efficiency of the plant can be expected.Besides the higher pressure and higher steam temperature, the design concept of this type of reactor differs significantly from a conventional LWR by a different core concept. In order to achieve the high outlet temperature of over 500 °C, a core with a three-step heat up and intermediate mixing is proposed to keep local cladding temperatures within today's material limits. A design for the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and the internals has been worked out to incorporate a core arrangement with three passes. All components have been dimensioned following the safety standards of the nuclear safety standards commission in Germany. Additionally, a fuel assembly cluster with head and foot piece has been developed to facilitate the complex flow path for the multi-pass concept. The design of the internals and of the RPV is verified using mechanical or, in the case of large thermal deformations, combined mechanical and thermal stress analyses. Furthermore, the reactor design ensures that the total coolant flow path remains closed against leakage of colder moderator water even in case of large thermal expansions of the components. The design of the RPV and internals is now available for detailed analyses of the core and the reactor.     

Possible design improvements and a high power density fuel design for integral type small modular pressurized water reactors

The study evaluates potential weaknesses and possible improvements for integral type small modular pressurized water reactor designs. By taking International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) as the reference design and keeping the power output as the same, a new fuel and reactor design were proposed. The proposed design relocates the primary coolant pumps and the pressurizer outside the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Three recirculation lines and jet pumps/centrifugal pumps are introduced to provide the coolant circulation similar to Boiling Water Reactor designs. The pressurizer component is expected to be similar to the AP600 design. It is located at one of the recirculation lines. The new fuel assembly adopts 264 solid cylindrical fuel pins with 10 mm diameter and 2.3 m height, arranged at a hexagonal tight lattice configuration. Large water rods are introduced to preserve the moderating power and to accommodate finger type control rods. The resulting fuel can operate with 104.5 kW/l power density while having substantially higher margin for boiling crisis compared to typical large PWRs. Full core neutronic analysis shows that 24-month cycle length and 50 MWd/kg burnup is achievable with a two-batch refueling scheme. Furthermore, the fuel behavior study shows that the new fuel with M5 type Zircaloy cladding show fairly acceptable steady state performance. A preliminary Loss of Coolant analysis shows that the new design could be advantageous over IRIS due to its low ratio of the water inventory below the top of the active fuel to total RPV water inventory. The proposed reactor pressure vessel height and the containment volume are 30% lower than the reference IRIS design.     

超临界水堆的瞬态分析程序开发

超临界水堆（SCWR）是第4代核反应堆的优先发展对象之一,它在经济性上的明显优势使其受到广泛关注。本文以混合谱超临界水堆（SCWR-M）为研究对象,建立合理的数学模型,开发了针对超临界水堆系统的瞬态分析程序TACOS。运用TACOS程序对SCWR-M进行了稳态计算和部分失流事故的瞬态分析。稳态计算的结果与设计值符合良好。部分失流事故的分析结果表明,事故中包壳表面最高温度为702.6 ℃,与安全限值相比有很大裕度。部分失流事故过程中不需采取特殊的安全措施,堆芯可自行回到安全状态。     

Analysis of a loss-of-flow accident resulting from the primary pump shaft break transient of the NUR research reactor

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a combined experimental and numerical simulation approach to investigating safety issues related to postulated loss-of-flow accident (LOFA) cases, which are more likely to occur in the NUR Research Reactor (Algeria).

The transients investigated at nominal-power operating conditions are related to the loss of flow resulting from an instantaneous shaft break in the main cooling pump of the NUR reactor.

The investigations are based on hydrodynamic and thermal hydraulic experiments to assess the reactor cooling system’s behavior.

3D Monte Carlo neutron transport calculations were performed with the (MCNP) code to determine the resulting neutronic properties of the core. In the accident analysis, a model of the primary cooling system was applied via the RELAP5 code. The experimental data and RELAP5 predictions showed good agreement. Additionally, the LOFA due to the transient scenario of the pump shaft break was compared with the LOFA due to normal loss of the coolant pump power transient. The results obtained from the transient (LOFA) studies revealed that in both cases, the lower limit of the minimum critical heat flux ratio and minimum onset of flow instability ratio for NUR is satisfied with a sufficient margin.     

Effectiveness and adverse effects of reactor coolant system depressurization strategy with various severe accident management guidance entry conditions for OPR1000

Severe accident analysis for Korean OPR1000 with MELCOR 1.8.6 was performed by adapting a mitigation strategy under different entry conditions of Severe Accident Management Guidance (SAMG). The analysis was focused on the effectiveness of the mitigation strategy and its adverse effects. Four core exit temperatures (CETs) were selected as SAMG entry conditions, and Small Break Loss of Coolant Accident (SBLOCA), Station Blackout (SBO), and Total Loss of Feed Water (TLOFW) were selected as postulated scenarios that may propagate into severe accidents. In order to delay reactor pressure vessel (RPV) failure, entering the SAMG when the CET reached 923 K, 923 K, and 753 K resulted in the best results for SBLOCA, SBO, and TLOFW scenarios, respectively. This implies that using event-based diagnosis for severe accidents may be more beneficial than using symptom-based diagnosis. There is no significant difference among selected SAMG entry conditions in light of the operator's available action time before the RPV failure. Potential vulnerability of the RPV due to hydrogen generation was analyzed to investigate the foreseeable adverse effects that act against the accident mitigation strategies. For the SBLOCA cases, mitigation cases generated more hydrogen than the base case. However, the amount of hydrogen generated was similar between the base and mitigation cases for SBO and TLOFW. Hydrogen concentrations of containment were less than 5% before RPV failure for most cases.     

Application of the COBRA/TRAC best-estimate methodology to the AP600 large-break LOCA analysis

The AP600 is a simplified advanced pressurized water reactor (PWR) design incorporating passive safety systems that perform the same function as the active emergency core cooling systems (ECCSs) on the current reactors. In order to verify the effectiveness of the AP600 design features for mitigation of a postulated large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), the recently United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC)-approved best-estimate LOCA methodology (BELOCA) was applied to perform the AP600 standard safety analysis report large-break LOCA analysis. The applicability of the COBRA/TRAC code to model the AP600 unique features was validated against cylindrical core test facility (CCTF) and upper plenum test facility (UPTF) downcomer injection tests, the blowdown and reflood cooling heat transfer uncertainties were re-assessed for the AP600 large-break LOCA conditions and a conservative minimum film boiling temperature was applied as a bounded parameter for blowdown cooling. The BELOCA methodology was simplified to quantify the code uncertainties due to local and global models, as well as the statistical approximation methods, with the other uncertainties being bounded by limiting assumptions on the initial and boundary conditions. The final 95th percentile peak cladding temperature (PCT^95%) was 1186 K, which meets the 10CFR50.46 criteria with a considerable margin. It is therefore concluded that the AP600 design is effective in mitigation of a postulated large-break LOCA.     

Safety analysis of the IAEA reference research reactor during loss of flow accident using the code MERSAT

Using the thermal hydraulic code MERSAT detailed model including primary and secondary loop was developed for the IAEA's reference research reactor MTR 10 MW. The developed model enables the simulation of expected neutronic and thermal hydraulic phenomena during normal operation, reactivity and loss of flow accidents.Two different loss of flow accident (LOFA) have been simulated using slow and fast decrease time of core mass flow. In both cases the expected flow reversal from downward forced to upward natural circulation has been successfully simulated. The results indicate that in both accidents the limit of onset of subcooled boiling was not arrived and consequently no exceed of design limits in term of thermal hydraulic instability or DNB is observed. Finally, the simulation results show good agreement with previous international benchmark analyses accomplished with other qualified channel and thermal hydraulic system codes.     

Fracture mechanics concepts for evaluation of irradiated reactor pressure vessel material behavior

Within the German research program Forschungsvorhaben Komponentensicherheit (FKS), irradiation experiments were performed with ferritic reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels and welds. The materials cover a wide range of chemical composition and initial toughness to achieve different susceptibility to neutron irradiation. Different neutron flux was applied and the neutron exposure extended up to 8×10¹⁹ cm⁻². The change in material properties was determined by means of tensile, Charpy impact, drop-weight and fracture mechanics tests, including crack arrest. The results have provided more insight into the acting embrittlement mechanisms and shown that the fracture mechanics concept of the Code provides in general an upper bound for the material which can be applied in the safety analysis of the RPV.     

Safety analysis of an accelerator-driven test facility

One of the milestones in the roadmap of accelerator-driven transmutation of waste (ATW) of the U.S. Department of Energy is the design and construction of an accelerator-driven test facility (ADTF) with a thermal power of 100 MW. Analysis of the dynamic behavior of the ADTF has been carried out in the frame of a bilateral collaboration between the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). In the present study five different system configurations with various types of fuel and different types of coolant have been taken into consideration.In the systems with sodium as coolant, the transient behavior under the unprotected loss-of-flow scenario shows the most serious safety concern. As long as the external source is switched on, loss-of-flow will lead to an overheating of coolant, cladding and fuel. Boiling of coolant, cladding failure and molten fuel injection take place just in several seconds after the coast-down of the pump. Safety measures have to be designed for switching off the proton beam.In the system with liquid lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) as coolant, the buoyancy effect is much stronger. Due to its high boiling point, coolant boiling and, subsequently, flow oscillation in fuel assemblies can be avoided. By a proper design of the heat removal system, the buoyancy-driven convection would provide a sufficiently high cooling capability of the reactor core, to keep the integrity of the fuel pins.     

严重事故下安全壳内环境条件计算分析

参照对先进压水堆安全壳的要求,结合恰希玛二期工程严重事故缓解措施,对大破口失水事故(LLOCA)叠加安注失效、小破口失水事故(SLOCA)叠加安注失效、全厂断电(SBO)叠加柴油机驱动的辅助给水失效等严重事故序列可能影响安全壳内环境的条件及缓解措施进行了分析.结果表明,恢复喷淋可以明显地降低安全壳内的压力和温度,有效地改善安全壳内的环境,从而改善各种仪表设备的工作条件.     

AP1000小破口叠加重力注射失效严重事故分析

应用新版MELCOR程序,建立了AP1000一二回路、非能动安全系统及安全壳隔室的热工水力模型,并以热段小破口叠加重力注射系统失效事故为例,对该严重事故进程在压力容器内阶段进行模拟计算,对缓解措施的功能进行了分析和评价。结果表明：自动卸压系统（ADS1～4）的成功实施,可使来自堆芯补水箱和安注箱的冷却水快速有效地注入堆芯,在冷却水完全耗尽前,堆芯始终处于淹没的状态。ADS4爆破阀开启后,使回路压力快速与安全壳压力平衡;非能动安全壳冷却系统对抵御严重事故下由于衰变热和非冷凝气体带来的缓慢升温升压是行之有效的措施;点火器在氢气浓度较低时点火,缓解了安全壳大空间发生全局燃爆而引发安全壳超压失效的风险,但连续点火燃烧会引起局部隔室温升远超出设计温度而危及后备缓解设施的存活。