• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.347-360
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• 2013

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the small-break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) and the loss-of-feedwater accident (LOFW) in a scaled integral test facility of REX-10. REX-10 is a small integral-type PWR in which the coolant flow is driven by natural circulation, and the RCS is pressurized by the steam-gas pressurizer. The postulated accidents of REX-10 include the system depressurization initiated by the break of a nitrogen injection line connected to the steam-gas pressurizer and the complete loss of normal feedwater flow by the malfunction of control systems. The integral effect tests on SBLOCA and LOFW are conducted at the REX-10 Test Facility (RTF), a full-height full-pressure facility with reduced power by 1/50. The SBLOCA experiment is initiated by opening a flow passage out of the pressurizer vessel, and the LOFW experiment begins with the termination of the feedwater supply into the helical-coil steam generator. The experimental results reveal that the RTF can assure sufficient cooldown capability with the simulated PRHRS flow during these DBAs. In particular, the RTF exhibits faster pressurization during the LOFW test when employing the steam-gas pressurizer than the steam pressurizer. This experimental study can provide unique data to validate the thermal-hydraulic analysis code for REX-10.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.439-458
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• 2013

REX-10 is a fully-passive small modular reactor in which the coolant flow is driven by natural circulation, the RCS is pressurized by a steam-gas pressurizer, and the decay heat is removed by the PRHRS. To confirm design decisions and analyze the transient responses of an integral PWR such as REX-10, a thermal-hydraulic system code named TAPINS (Thermal-hydraulic Analysis Program for INtegral reactor System) is developed in this study. Based on a one-dimensional four-equation drift-flux model, TAPINS incorporates mathematical models for the core, the helical-coil steam generator, and the steam-gas pressurizer. The system of difference equations derived from the semi-implicit finite-difference scheme is numerically solved by the Newton Block Gauss Seidel (NBGS) method. TAPINS is characterized by applicability to transients with non-equilibrium effects, better prediction of the transient behavior of a pressurizer containing non-condensable gas, and code assessment by using the experimental data from the autonomous integral effect tests in the RTF (REX-10 Test Facility). Details on the hydrodynamic models as well as a part of validation results that reveal the features of TAPINS are presented in this paper.