Improvement of JASMINE code for ex-vessel molten core coolability in BWR

Matsumoto, Toshinori; Kawabe, Ryuhei*; Iwasawa, Yuzuru; Sugiyama, Tomoyuki; Maruyama, Yu

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 178, p.109348_1 - 109348_13, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109348

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency extended the applicability of their fuel-coolant interaction analysis code JASMINE to simulate the relevant phenomena of molten core in a severe accident. In order to evaluate the total coolability, it is necessary to know the mass fraction of particle, agglomerated and cake debris and the final geometry at the cavity bottom. An agglomeration model that considers the fusion of hot particles on the cavity floor was implemented in the JASMINE code. Another improvement is introduction of the melt spreading model based on the shallow water equation with consideration of crust formation at the melt surface. For optimization of adjusting parameters, we referred data from the agglomeration experiment DEFOR-A and the under-water spreading experiment PULiMS conducted by KTH in Sweden. The JASMINE analyses reproduced the most of the experimental results well with the common parameter set, suggesting that the primary phenomena are appropriately modelled.

Analysis on cooling behavior for simulated molten core material impinging to a horizontal plate in a sodium pool

Matsushita, Hatsuki*; Kobayashi, Ren*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Kato, Shinya; Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji

Proceedings of 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-13) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2022/09

During core disruptive accidents in sodium-cooled fast reactors, the molten core material flows through flow channels, such as the control rod guide tubes, into the core inlet plenum under the core region. The molten core material can be cooled and solidified while impinging on a horizontal plate of the inlet plenum in a sodium coolant. However, the solidification and cooling behaviors of molten core materials impinged on a horizontal structure have not been sufficiently studied thus far. Notably, this is an important phenomenon that needs to be elucidated from the perspective of improving the safety of sodium-cooled fast reactors. Accordingly, a series of experiments on discharging a simulated molten core material (alumina: AlO) into a sodium coolant on a horizontal structure was conducted at the experimental facility of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In this study, analyses on the sodium experiments using SIMMER-III as the fast reactor safety evaluation code were performed. The analysis methods were validated by comparing the results and experiment data. In addition, the cooling and solidification behaviors during jet impingement were evaluated. The results indicated that the molten core material exhibited fragmentation owing to the impingement on the horizontal plate and was, therefore, scattered toward the periphery. Furthermore, the simulated molten core material was evaluated to be cooled by sodium and subsequently solidified.

Post-test analyses of the CMMR-4 test

Yamashita, Takuya; Madokoro, Hiroshi; Sato, Ikken

Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science, 8(2), p.021701_1 - 021701_13, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4051443

Melt impingement on a flat spreading surface under wet condition

Sahboun, N. F.; Matsumoto, Toshinori; Iwasawa, Yuzuru; Sugiyama, Tomoyuki

Proceedings of Asian Symposium on Risk Assessment and Management 2021 (ASRAM 2021) (Internet), 15 Pages, 2021/10

Validation of analysis models on relocation behavior of molten core materials in sodium-cooled fast reactors based on the melt discharge experiment

Igarashi, Kai*; Onuki, Ryoji*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Kato, Shinya; Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji

Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE2020-16440

Study on the discharge behavior of molten-core through the control rod guide tube in the core disruptive accident of SFR

Kato, Shinya; Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji; Ganovichev, D. A.*; Baklanov, V. V.*

Proceedings of 2019 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2019) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2019/05

In order to ensure In-Vessel Retention (IVR) of molten-core in Core Disruptive Accident (CDA), we are investigating the possibility of the molten-core discharge through the control rod guide tube (CRGT) to prevent energetics due to exceeding the prompt criticality. Internal structures of the CRGT, such as a sodium-flow regulator when the CRGT is connected to the high-pressure plenum, may disturb the discharge of molten-core from the core region. Based on above background, an experimental program to clarify characteristics of molten-core discharge through the CRGT has been commenced as one of subjects under a joint study with National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NNC-RK) named EAGLE-3 project. An experiment using molten-alumina as fuel simulant and sodium was conducted at the out-of-pile test facility owned by NNC-RK to investigate sodium cooling effect around the sodium flow regulator on its destruction. The experimental result represented that void development at the initiation of molten-alumina discharge eliminated liquid-phase sodium from the discharge path and this also eliminated sodium cooling effect around the sodium flow regulator. As a result, early destruction of the sodium flow regulator and massive discharge of molten alumina occurred in turn.

Monte Carlo criticality analysis under material distribution uncertainty

Ueki, Taro

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 54(3), p.267 - 279, 2017/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2016.1260066

Analysis framework under material distribution uncertainty is investigated for the Monte Carlo (MC) criticality calculation of continuously mixed media formed via molten core concrete interaction. Deterministic trigonometric functions and randomized Weierstrass functions are utilized to represent the spatially continuous variation. Numerical results indicate that the effective multiplication factor (k) under random spatial variation can depart significantly from the k of a reference uniform medium. It is also shown that the deterministic modeling provides an upper-bound measure for extreme results from random realizations.

Distance for fragmentation of a simulated molten-core material discharged into a sodium pool

Matsuba, Kenichi; Isozaki, Mikio; Kamiyama, Kenji; Tobita, Yoshiharu

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 53(5), p.707 - 712, 2016/05

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2015.1113897

In order to develop an evaluation method of the distance for fragmentation of molten core material discharged into the sodium plenum, a sodium experiment with visual observation was conducted using an X-ray imaging system. In the current experiments, 0.9 kg of molten aluminum (initial temperature: around 1473 K) was discharged into a sodium pool (initial temperature: 673 K) through a nozzle (inner diameter: 20 mm). Based on the experimental results, the distance for fragmentation of the liquid column was estimated to be 100 mm in the experiments. Through the sodium experiment, useful knowledge was obtained for the future development of an evaluation method of the distance for fragmentation of molten core material. As a next step, sodium experiments using higher-density molten materials will be conducted to enrich the experimental knowledge. Besides, a new semi-empirical correlation will be developed to evaluate more appropriately the distance for fragmentation under CDA conditions.

Experimental discussion on fragmentation mechanism of molten oxide discharged into a sodium pool

Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji; Toyooka, Junichi; Tobita, Yoshiharu; Zuev, V. A.*; Kolodeshnikov, A. A.*; Vasilyev, Y. S.*

Proceedings of 23rd International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-23) (DVD-ROM), 6 Pages, 2015/05

To develop a method for evaluating the distance for fragmentation of molten core material discharged into sodium, the particle size distribution of alumina debris obtained in the FR tests was analyzed. The mass median diameters of solidified alumina particles were around 0.4 mm, which are comparable to particle sizes predicted by hydrodynamic instability theories such as Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. However, even though hydrodynamic instability theories predict that particle size decreases with an increase of Weber number, such the dependence of particle size on We was not observed in the FR tests. It can be interpreted that the tendency of measured mass median diameters (i.e., non-dependence on Weber number) suggests that before hydrodynamic instabilities sufficiently grow to induce fragmentation, thermal phenomena such as local coolant vaporization and resultant vapor expansion accelerate fragmentation.

Analytical tool development for coarse break-up of a molten jet in a deep water pool

Moriyama, Kiyofumi; Nakamura, Hideo; Maruyama, Yu*

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 236(19-21), p.2010 - 2025, 2006/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2006.03.027

A computer code JASMINE-pre was developed for the prediction of premixing conditions of fuel-coolant interactions and the debris bed formation behavior relevant to severe accidents of light water reactors. JASMINE-pre consists of three melt component models: melt jet, melt particles and melt pool, coupled with a two-phase flow model derived from the ACE-3D code developed at JAERI. Simulations of the FARO corium quenching experiments with a saturated water pool and with a subcooled water pool were performed with JASMINE-pre and . JASMINE-pre reproduced the pressurization and fragmentation behaviors observed in the experiments with a reasonable accuracy. The results by pmjet showed qualitatively the same trend with JASMINE-pre in the fragmentation behavior.