| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of gamma and neutron heating and pressure wave propagation on the core response during an instantaneous loss of condenser vacuum transient without scram (ATWS) in a BWR. By incorporating the gamma and neutron heating, which contribute about 3% of the total power to the moderator, into the transient thermal-hydraulic analysis, the peak power was found to be 35% lower compared with the case with no direct heating. The incorporation of the two-dimensional radial and axial variations of reactivity feedbacks and moderator density into the transient analysis led to a lower power prediction than the one-dimensional model. The pressure surge was examined by a computer program based on the method of characteristics. The pressure rise calculated by this new code was found to be in good agreement with experimental data, while the results of similar calculations done by computer code RELAP4, which is based on finite differencing of the flow equations, were 50% lower. |
