Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Analysis of LBLOCA of APR1400 with 3D RPV model using TRACE

  • Yunseok Lee (Department of Safety Engineering, Incheon National University) ;
  • Youngjae Lee (Department of Safety Engineering, Incheon National University) ;
  • Ae Ju Chung (Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety) ;
  • Taewan Kim (Department of Safety Engineering, Incheon National University)
  • Received : 2022.09.20
  • Accepted : 2023.01.01
  • Published : 2023.05.25
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Abstract

It is very difficult to capture the multi-dimensional phenomena such as asymmetric flow and temperature distributions with the one-dimensional (1D) model, obviously, due to its inherent limitation. In order to overcome such a limitation of the 1D representation, many state-of-the-art system codes have equipped a three-dimensional (3D) component for multi-dimensional analysis capability. In this study, a standard multi-dimensional analysis model of APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400) has been developed using TRACE (TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine). The entire reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of APR1400 has been modeled using a single 3D component. The fuels in the reactor core have been described with detailed and coarse representations, respectively, to figure out the impact of the fuel description. Using both 3D RPV models, a comparative analysis has been performed postulating a double-ended guillotine break at a cold leg. Based on the results of comparative analysis, it is revealed that both models show no significant difference in general plant behavior and the model with coarse fuel model could be used for faster transient analysis without reactor kinetics coupling. The analysis indicates that the asymmetric temperature and flow distributions are captured during the transient, and such nonuniform distributions contribute to asymmetric quenching behaviors during blowdown and reflood phases. Such asymmetries are directly connected to the figure of merits in the LBLOCA analysis. Therefore, it is recommended to employ a multi-dimensional RPV model with a detailed fuel description for a realistic safety analysis with the consideration of the spatial configuration of the reactor core.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Nuclear Safety Research Program through the Korea Foundation Of Nuclear Safety (KoFONS) using the financial resource granted by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of the Republic of Korea (No. 1305002). This work was also supported by Incheon National University Research Grant in 2019.

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