Theoretical investigation on the steady-state natural circulation characteristics of a new type of pressurized water reactor

1 Introduction With respect to the inherent safety of nuclear re- actors, application of passive systems/components including natural circulation phenomena as the main mechanism is intended to simplify the safety-related systems and to improve their reliability, to reduce the effect of human errors and equipment failures, and to provide more time to enable the operators to prevent or mitigate serious accidents. Natural circulation is the main mode of heat removal for removing decay heat from t…

Theoretical investigation on the steady-state natural circulation characteristics of a new type of pressurized water reactor

This article presents a theoretical investigation on the steady-state natural circulation characteristics of a new type of pressurized water reactor. Through numerically solving the one-dimensional steady-state single-phase conservative equations for the primary circuit and the steady-state two-phase drift-flux conservative equations for the secondary side of the steam generator, the natural circulation characteristics were studied. On the basis of the preliminary calculation analysis, it was found that natural circulation mass flow rate was proportional to the exponential function of the power and that the value of the exponent is related to the operating conditions of the secondary side of the steam generator. The higher the outlet pressure of the secondary side of the steam generator, the higher the primary natural circulation mass flow rate. The larger height difference between the core center and the steam generator center is favorable for the heat removal capacity of the natural circulation.