• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1997년도 춘계학술발표회논문집(1)
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• pp.362-367
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• 1997

To assess the coolability of particle bed, which is formed in reactor cavity, it is important to assess the prediction capabilities of Dryout Heat flux correlations. The existing DHF correlations (Sowa et al., Dhir-Catton (a), Dhir-Catton (b), Hardee-Nilson, Ostesen, Shires-Stevens, Lipinski, Jones et al., Dhir-Barleon, Theofanous-Saito, Henry-Fauske) for particle beds are assessed using developed DHF database. Eleven DHF correlations are chosen for assessment based on literature survey. Among them, five are based on flooding correlation, which are used for chemical engineering and others are based on conservation equations. The parameters in DHF correlations are directly substituted into correlations. Totally 202 data are classified into 6 groups based on bed thickness and particle diameter. In each group, prediction capabilities of correlations are assessed and shown by standard deviation and root mean square (RMS) error. Prediction capability of each correlation depends on the data group and none of correlations shows best prediction capability on entire groups. According to present study, even if those correlations show poor prediction capability, Lipinski correlation is best correlation considering entire groups.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제37권6호
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• pp.575-586
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• 2005

In a CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactor, fuel channel integrity depends on the coolability of the moderator as an ultimate heat sink under transient conditions such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) with coincident loss of emergency core cooling (LOECC), as well as normal operating conditions. This study presents assessments of moderator thermal-hydraulic characteristics in the normal operating conditions and one transient condition for CANDU-6 reactors, using a general purpose three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics code. First, an optimized calculation scheme is obtained by many-sided comparisons of the predicted results with the related experimental data, and by evaluating the fluid flow and temperature distributions. Then, using the optimized scheme, analyses of real CANDU-6 in normal operating conditions and the transition condition have been performed. The present model successfully predicted the experimental results and also reasonably assessed the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of a real CANDU-6 with 380 fuel channels. A flow regime map with major parameters representing the flow pattern inside a calandria vessel has also proposed to be used as operational and/or regulatory guidelines.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.8-15
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• 1985

Debris bed내·외로부터 깨스유량을 갖는 debris/water 열적상호작용 해석모델이 중대사고 분석을 위해 제시되었다. 제시된 모델은 증기 소비, debris bed에서 수소 생성, 유입깨스 및 화학반응열에 대한 인자들을 포함하고 있으며, 금속-물반응 및 debris/concrete 작용으로 인한 깨스 생성을 평가하기 위해 MARCH code에 도입시켰다. 그 결과 수소원은 격납용기 과도압력에 큰 영향을 미치나 debris bed로 대류깨스 냉각과 콘크리트로 전도 열손실은 debris bed 냉각성에 조그마한 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 debris 인자의 재가열과 재용융은 콘크리트와 상호작용에 의해 상당히 지연될 수 있다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권5호
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• pp.979-988
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• 2017

The feasibility of cooling in a pressurized heavy water reactor after a large break loss-of-coolant accident has been analyzed using Multidimensional Analysis of Reactor Safety-KINS Standard code during the recirculation phase. Through evaluation of sensitivity of the fuel channel temperature to various effective recirculation flow areas, it is determined that proper cooling of the fuel channels in the broken loop is feasible if the effective flow area remains above approximately 70% of the nominal flow area. When the flow area is reduced by more than approximately 25% of the nominal value, however, incipience of boiling is expected, after which the thermal integrity of the fuel channel can be threatened. In addition, if a dramatic reduction of the recirculation flow occurs, excursions and frequent fluctuations of temperature in the fuel channels are likely to be unavoidable, and thus damage to the fuel channels would be anticipated. To resolve this, emergency coolant supply through the newly installed external injection path can be used as one alternative means of cooling, enabling fuel channel integrity to be maintained and permanently preventing severe accident conditions. Thus, the external injection flow required to guarantee fuel channel coolability has been estimated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권1호
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• pp.72-83
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• 2022

This paper presents a numerical investigation of two-phase natural circulation flows established when external reactor vessel cooling is applied to a severe accident of the APR1400 reactor for the in-vessel retention of the core melt. The coolability limit due to external reactor vessel cooling is associated with the natural circulation flow rate around the lower head of the reactor vessel. For an elaborate prediction of the natural circulation flow rate using a thermal-hydraulic system code, MARS-KS1.5, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is conducted to estimate the flow rate and pressure distribution of a liquid-state coolant at the brink of significant void generation. The CFD calculation results are used to determine the loss coefficient at major flow junctions, where substantial pressure losses are expected, in the nodalization scheme of the MARS-KS code such that the single-phase flow rate is the same as that predicted via CFD simulations. Subsequently, the MARS-KS analysis is performed for the two-phase natural circulation regime, and the transient behavior of the main thermal-hydraulic variables is investigated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권12호
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• pp.4003-4013
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• 2021

During the long-term cooling (LTC) phase of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), water is supplied from the containment sump to the reactor coolant system (RCS) by the flooded sump water to the Reactor Vessel (RV) through the broken pipes. As part of the technical efforts for resolving GSI-191 [( Reid and Crytzer, May. 2007) 1, consideration is needed for the consequences of debris penetrating the sump screen and propagating downstream into the RV. Injection of debris (fiberglass) into the RV during the LTC recirculation phase needs special attention to assure that reactor core cooling is maintained. The point of concern is the potential for debris to adversely affect the reactor core flow paths or heat transfer [2]. However, all the experiments for proving the coolability of RV have been done with the assumption of the most of debris would be transferred to the RV and the bottom nozzle of the FAs. The purpose of the tests is to quantify the amount of the debris that would be accumulated at the lower plenum and the debris that passes through the FAs since non-conservatism of other researches assumptions that have been used in the past experimental or analytical programs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.949-958
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• 2024

In contrast to all-time flooded small modular reactor (SMR) systems, an in-kind flooding safety system (FSS) has been proposed as a passive safety system applicable to small modular reactors (SMRs) that adopt a metal containment vessel (MCV). Under transient conditions, the FSS can provide emergency cooling to dry reactor cavities and sustain long-term coolability using re-acquired evaporated steam in the reactor building on demand. When designing an FSS, the effect of the flooding flow area is vital as it affects the overall accident sequence and safety. Therefore, in this study, a MELCOR model of a reference SMR is developed and numerical analysis is performed under postulated accident scenarios. Without flooding, the MCV pressure of the reactor module exceeds the design pressure before core damage. To prevent core damage, an emergency flooding strategy is devised using various flow path parameters and requirements to ensure an adequate emergency coolant supply before the core damage is investigated. The results indicate that a flow area exceeding 0.02 m2 is required in the FSS to prevent MCV overpressure and core damage. This study is the first to report a strategic analysis for appropriately sizing an FSS flooding valve applicable to innovative SMRs.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2007년도 춘계학술대회B
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• pp.3491-3496
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• 2007

If a molten core is released from a reactor vessel into a reactor cavity during a severe accident, an important safety issue of coolability of the molten core from top-flooding and concrete ablation due to a molten core concrete interaction (MCCI) is still unresolved. The released molten core debris would attack the concrete wall and basemat of the reactor cavity, which will lead to inevitable concrete decompositions and possible radiological releases. In a OECD/MCCI project scheduled for 4 years from 2002. 1 to 2005. 12, a series of tests were performed to secure the data for cooling the molten core spread out at the reactor cavity and for the 2-D long-term core concrete interaction (CCI). The tests included not only separate effect tests such as a melt eruption, water ingression, and crust failure tests with a prototypic material but also 2-D CCI tests with a prototypic material under dry and flooded cavity conditions. The paper deals with the transient simulations on the CCI-2 test by using a severe accident analysis code, CORQUENCH, which was developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Similar simulations had been already per for me d by using MELCOR 1.8.5 code. Unlike the MELCOR 1.8.5, the CORQUENCH includes a melt eruption mode I and a newly developed water ingression model based on the water ingression tests under the OECD/MCCI project. In order to adjust the geometrical differences between the CCI-2 test (rectangular geometry) and the simulations (cylindrical geometry), the same scaling methodology as used in the MELCOR simulation was applied. For the direct comparison of the simulation results, the same inputs for the MELCOR simulation were used. The simulation results were compared with the previous results by using MELCOR 1.8.5.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권7호
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• pp.1442-1450
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• 2017

In liquid metal fast breeder reactors, postulated failures of the plant protection system may lead to serious unprotected accidental consequences. Unprotected transients are generically categorized as transient overpower accidents and transient under cooling accidents. In both cases, core meltdown may occur and this can lead to a molten fuel coolant interaction (MFCI). The understanding of MFCI phenomena is essential for study of debris coolability and characteristics during post-accident heat removal. Sodium is used as coolant in liquid metal fast breeder reactors. Viewing inside sodium at elevated temperature is impossible because of its opaqueness. In the present study, a methodology to depict MFCI phenomena using a flat panel detector based imaging system (i.e., real time radiography) is brought out using a woods metal-water experimental facility which simulates the $UO_2-Na$ interaction. The developed imaging system can capture attributes of the MFCI process like jet breakup length, jet front velocity, fragmented particle size, and a profile of the debris bed using digital image processing methods like image filtering, segmentation, and edge detection. This paper describes the MFCI process and developed imaging methodology to capture MFCI attributes which are directly related to the safe aspects of a sodium fast reactor.

• 대한기계학회논문집B
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• 제30권9호
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• pp.825-833
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• 2006

To investigate the moderator coolability for CANDU-6 reactors, a test facility (HU-KINS) has been manufactured as a 1/8 scaled-down of a calandria tank. In the design of the test facility, a scaling law was developed in such a way to consider the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of a CANDU-6 moderator. The proposed scaling law takes into consideration of the energy conservation, the dynamic similitude such as dimensionless numbers, Archimedes number (Ar) and Reynolds number (Re), and thermal-hydraulic properties similitude. Using this proposed scaling law, the thermal-hydraulic scaling analyses of similar test facilities such as the SPEL (1/10 scale) and the STERN (1/4 scale), have been identified. As a result, in the case of the SPEL, while the energy conservation is well defined, the similarities of Ar and the heat density are not well considered. As for the similarity of the STERN, while both the energy conservation and the characteristics of Ar are well defined, the heat density is not. In the meanwhile, the HU-KINS test facility with 1/8 length scaled-down is well similitude in compliance with all similarities of the energy conservation, the fluid dynamics and thermal-hydraulic properties. To verify the adequacy of the similarities in terms of thermal-hydraulics, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis has been conducted using the CFX-5 code. As the results of the CFD analyses, the predicted flow patterns and variation of axial properties inside the calandria tank are well consistant with those of previous studies performed with FLUENT and this implies that the present scaling method is acceptable.