Optimal design of a Small Modular Reactor core with dual cooled annular fuel based on the neutronics and natural circulation parameters

2020 ◽  
Vol 360 ◽  
pp. 110518
Author(s):  
M. Zaidabadi Nejad ◽  
G.R. Ansarifar
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Design ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Small Modular Reactor ◽  
Circulation Parameters

Power Maximization of Fully Passive Lead-Bismuth Eutectic Cooled Small Modular Reactor

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaehyun Cho ◽  
Yong-Hoon Shin ◽  
Il Soon Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Small Modular Reactor ◽  
Power Maximization ◽  
Lead Bismuth Eutectic ◽  
Water Reactors

Although the current Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) have significantly contributed to the global energy supply, PWRs have not been considered as a trustworthy energy solution owing to its several problems; spent nuclear fuels (SNFs), nuclear safety, and nuclear economy. In order to overcome these problems, lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) fully passive cooling Small Modular Reactor (SMR) system is suggested. It is possible to not only provide the solution of the problem of SNFs through the transmutation feature of LBE coolant, but also increase the safety and economy through the concepts of the natural circulation cooling SMRs. It is necessary to maximize the advantages (safety and economy) of this type of Nuclear Power Plants for several applications in future. Accordingly, objective of the study is to maximize the reactor core power while the limitations of shipping size, materials endurance, long-burning criticality as well as safety under Beyond Design Basis Events must be satisfied. Design limitations of natural circulating LBE-cooling SMRs are researched and power maximization method is developed based on obtained design limitations. It is expected that the results are contributed to reactor design stage with providing several insights to designers as well as the methods for design optimization of other type of SMRs.

Analysis of the natural circulation flow map uncertainties in an integral small modular reactor

2021 ◽  
Vol 378 ◽  
pp. 111156
Author(s):  
Seyed Ali Hosseini ◽  
Reza Akbari ◽  
Amir Saeed Shirani ◽  
Francesco D'Auria
Keyword(s):  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Circulation Flow ◽  
Small Modular Reactor ◽  
Flow Map

Analysis of Flow Blockage of a Single Fuel Assembly in the JRR-3 20MW Research Reactor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchuan Guo ◽  
Guanbo Wang ◽  
Dazhi Qian ◽  
Heng Yu ◽  
Bo Hu
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Assembly ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Research Reactor ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Nucleate Boiling ◽  
Regulation System ◽  
Lower Power ◽  
Emergency Shutdown ◽  
Flow Blockage

The case of flow blockage of a single fuel assembly in the JRR-3 20MW open-pool-type research reactor is investigated without taking into account the effect of the power regulation system. The coolant system and multi-channel reactor core are modeled in detail using thermal hydraulic system analysis code RELAP5/MOD3.4. MDNBR (Minimum Departure From Nucleate Boiling Ratio) and the maximum fuel central temperature are investigated to assess the integrity of fuels. The fuel plates in blocked assembly are not damaged until the blockage ratio exceeds 70%. In addition, the mitigative effect of the assumed 18 MW lower power emergency shutdown operation on the accident is also discussed qualitatively. Results indicate that although the assumed lower power emergency shutdown operation cannot avoid the most severe operating condition, it can obviously mitigate the consequences of the accident. The reactor eventually remains in the long-term safe state when natural circulation is established.

Analysis of Passive Residual Heat Removal System at Primary Side when Station Blackout Occurs

2014 ◽  
Vol 986-987 ◽  
pp. 231-234
Author(s):  
Jun Teng Liu ◽  
Qi Cai ◽  
Xia Xin Cao
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Saturation Temperature ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Primary Circuit ◽  
Station Blackout ◽  
Heat Removal System ◽  
Removal System ◽  
Residual Heat

This paper regarded CNP1000 power plant system as the research object, which is the second-generation half Nuclear Reactor System in our country, and tried to set Westinghouse AP1000 passive residual heat removal system to the primary circuit of CNP1000. Then set up a simulation model based on RELAP5/MOD3.2 program to calculate and analyze the response and operating characteristic of passive residual heat removal system on assumption that Station Blackout occurs. The calculation has the following conclusions: natural circulation was quickly established after accident, which removes core residual heat effectively and keep the core safe. The residual heat can be quickly removed, and during this process the actual temperature was lower than saturation temperature in reactor core.

A Finnish District Heating Reactor: Neutronics Design and Fuel Cycle Simulations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaakko Leppänen ◽  
Ville Valtavirta ◽  
Riku Tuominen ◽  
Antti Rintala ◽  
Unna Lauranto
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Computational Framework ◽  
Conceptual Design Phase ◽  
Burnable Absorber ◽  
Control Rods ◽  
Type Fuel

Abstract The development of a small PWR for district heating applications has been started at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and the pre-conceptual design phase was completed by the end of year 2020. The heating plant consists of one or multiple 50 MW reactor modules, operating on natural circulation at around 120°C temperature. This paper presents the neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations carried out using VTT’s Kraken computational framework. The reactor is operated without soluble boron, which together with low operating temperature and pressure brings certain challenges to the use of control rods and burnable absorber. The reactor core is loaded with 37 truncated AP1000-type fuel assemblies with 2.0–3.0% fuel enrichment and erbium burnable absorber. The resulting cycle length is around 900 days. The results show that the criteria set for stability, reactivity control and thermal margins are fulfilled. More importantly, it is concluded that the new Kraken framework is a viable tool for the core design task.

Assessment of RELAP/SCDAPSIM for Turbine Trip Transient in NuScale-SMR

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Skolik ◽  
Anuj Trivedi ◽  
Marina Perez-Ferragut ◽  
Chris Allison
Keyword(s):  
Natural Circulation ◽  
System Modeling ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Severe Accident ◽  
Circulation System ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactor ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Secondary Steam

The NuScale Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is an integrated Pressurized Water Reactor (iPWR) with the coolant flow based on the natural circulation. The reactor core consists of 37 fuel assemblies similar to those used in typical PWRs, but only half of their length to generate 160MW thermal power (50 MWe). Current study involves the development of a NuScale-SMR model based on its Design Certification Application (DCA) data (from NRC) using RELAP/SCDAPSIM. The turbine trip transient (TTT) was simulated and analysed. The objective was to assess this version of the code for natural circulation system modeling capabilities and also to verify the input model against the publicly available TTT results obtained using NRELAP5. This successful benchmark confirms the reliability of the thermal hydraulic model and allows authors to use it for further safety and severe accident analyses. The reactor core channels, pressurizer, riser and downcomer pipes as well as the secondary steam generator tubes and the containment were modeled with RELAP5 components. SCDAP core and control components were used for the fuel elements in the core. The final input deck achieved the steady state with the operating conditions comparable to those reported in the DCA. RELAP/SCDAPSIM predictions are found to be satisfactory and comparable to the reference study. It confirms the code code capabilities for natural circulation system transients.

Natural Circulation and Creep Damage Analyses of Severe Accident for a Typical PWR Plant

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamu Kawabata ◽  
Masao Ogino
Keyword(s):  
Steam Generator ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Creep Damage ◽  
Reactor Vessel ◽  
Reactor System ◽  
Severe Accident ◽  
Steam Generator Tube ◽  
Hot Gas ◽  
Core Meltdown

When the primary reactor system remain pressurized during core meltdown for a typical PWR plant, loop seals formed in the primary reactor system would lead to natural circulations in hot leg and steam generator. In this case, the hot gas released from the reactor core moves to a steam generator, and a steam generator tube would be failed with cumulative creep damage. From such phenomena, a high-pressure scenario during core meltdown may lead to large release of fission products to the environment. In the present study, natural circulation and creep damage in the primary reactor system accompanying the hot gas generation in the reactor core were discussed and the combining analysis with MELCOR and FLUENT codes were performed to examine the natural circulation behavior. For a typical 4 loop PWR plant, MELCOR code which can analyze for the severe accident progression was applied to the accident analyses from accident initiation to reactor vessel failure for the accident sequence of the main steam pipe break which is maintained at high pressure during core meltdown. In addition, using the CFD code FLUENT, fluid dynamics in the reactor vessel plenum, hot leg and steam generator of one loop were simulated with three-dimensional coordinates. And the hot gas natural circulation flow and the heat transfer to adjoining structures were analyzed using results provided by the MELCOR code as boundary conditions. The both ratios of the natural circulation flow calculated in the hot leg and the steam generator using MELCOR code and FLUENT code were obtained to be about 2 (two). And using analytical results of thermal hydraulic analysis with both codes, creep damage analysis at hottest temperature points of steam generator tube and hot leg were carried out. The results in both cases showed that a steam generator tube would be failed with creep rupture earlier than that of hot leg rupture.

The Research on Core Melting Process: Oxidation

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Wang ◽  
Wenxi Tian ◽  
Jianan Lu ◽  
Yingying Ma ◽  
Guanghui Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Melting Process ◽  
Coolant Pump ◽  
Fuel Rod ◽  
Fuel Pellets ◽  
Design Basis ◽  
Loss Of Coolant ◽  
Design Basis Accident ◽  
Station Blackout

Beyond-design basis accidents in the AP1000 may result in reactor core melting and are therefore termed core melt accidents. The aim of this work is to develop a code to calculate and analyze the oxidation of a single fuel rod with total failures of engineered safeguard systems under a certain beyond-design basis accident such as a gigantic earthquake which can result in station blackout and then total loss of coolant flow. Using the code, the responses of the most dangerous fuel rod in the AP1000 were calculated under the accident. A discussion involving fuel pellets melting, cladding rupture and oxidation, and hydrogen production then was carried out, focused on DNBR during coolant pump coastdown, the cladding intactness under different flow rates in natural circulation, and the delay effect on cladding rupture due to cladding oxidation. By the analysis of calculated results, several suggestions on guaranteeing the security of fuel rods were provided.

Sensitivity Analysis of the SBLOCA Induced Severe Accident for a Natural Circulation Small Modular Reactors

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Longze Li ◽  
Jue Wang ◽  
Yapei Zhang ◽  
G. H. Su
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Heat Sink ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Severe Accident ◽  
Severe Accidents ◽  
Small Modular Reactor ◽  
Fraction Increase ◽  
Crack Position

The natural circulation small modular reactor (NCSMR) is a 330 MW reactor which has no reactor coolant pumps (RCP) and no active safety injection systems at all. The reactor is mainly comprised of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) with integral pressurize r and steam generator. RPV is enclosed by a vacuumed pressure containment vessel (PCV) and the PCV is submerged in the underground containment pool. A MELCOR model and corresponding input deck are developed for the RPV, PCV, and containment pool. The containment pool takes the role of ultimate heat sink (UHS) in accident situations. The containment pool may crack and leak in some critical accidents as the earthquake, leading to the severe accident of the reactor. A TMI-2 like SBLOCA in the RPV (stuck open RVVs) along with the containment pool crack (loss of ultimate heat sink) is simulated in the work. So me key parameters as the RRVs stuck open fraction, the PCV-SRVs open or not, the containment pool crack position would have large influence on the severe accident sequence. The sensitivity of these parameters to the accident sequence is analyzed in the work. According to the simulation results, the RPV pressure decreased with the RRVs stuck open. The depressurization of RPV accelerated with the RPV-SRV open fraction increase. The PCV pressure increased after that. Two cases as the PCV-SRV open after PCV pressure increase to 5 MPa, and PCV break while the RV d id not open, are analysis. The coolant discharge mass flo wrate in RPV and PCV were different in two cases, leading to the different degradation situation of the core. Since the containment pool is so important for the accident mitigation, sensitivity analysis is done for the containment pool crack position in the pool. The work will be meaningful in gaining an insight into the detailed process involved. One of the final goals of this work would be to identify appropriate accident management strategies and countermeasures for the potential extreme natural hazard induced severe accidents during the design process of NCSMR.

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