Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Transient full core analysis of PWR with multi-scale and multi-physics approach

  • Received : 2023.07.05
  • Accepted : 2023.12.01
  • Published : 2024.03.25
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Abstract

Steam line break accident (SLB) in the nuclear reactor is one of the representative Non-LOCA accidents in which thermal-hydraulics and neutron kinetics are strongly coupled each other. Thus, the multi-scale and multi-physics approach is applied in this study in order to examine a realistic safety margin. An entire reactor coolant system is modelled by system scale node, whereas sub-channel scale resolution is applied for the region of interest such as the reactor core. Fuel performance code is extended to consider full core pin-wise fuel behaviour. The MARU platform is developed for easy integration of the codes to be coupled. An initial stage of the steam line break accident is simulated on the MARU platform. As cold coolant is injected from the cold leg into the reactor pressure vessel, the power increases due to the moderator feedback. Three-dimensional coolant and fuel behaviour are qualitatively visualized for easy comprehension. Moreover, quantitative investigation is added by focusing on the enhancement of safety margin by means of comparing the minimum departure from nucleate boiling ratio (MDNBR). Three factors contributing to the increase of the MDNBR are proposed: Various geometric parameters, realistic power distribution by neutron kinetics code, Radial coolant mixing including sub-channel physics model.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was partly supported by the Nuclear Safety Research Program through the Korea Foundation of Nuclear Safety (KOFONS) under a grant from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) (Grant No. 210621) and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI, 524510-23).

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