Development of a kinetics analysis code for fuel solution combined with thermal-hydraulics analysis code PHOENICS and analysis of natural-cooling characteristic test of TRACY (Contract research)

Watanabe, Shoichi; Yamane, Yuichi  ; Miyoshi, Yoshinori

Since exact information is not always acquired in the criticality accident of fuel-solution, parametric survey calculations are required for grasping behaviors of the thermal-hydraulics. On the other hand, the practical methods of the calculation which can reduce the computation time with allowable accuracy will be also required, since the conventional method takes a long calculation time. In order to fulfill the requirement, a three-dimensional nuclear-kinetics analysis code considering thermal-hydraulic based on the multi-region kinetic equations with one-group neutron energy was created by incorporating the thermal-hydraulics analysis code PHOENICS as a subroutine. The computation time of the code was shortened by separating time mesh intervals of the nuclear- and heat-calculations from that of the hydraulics calculation, and by regulating automatically the time mesh intervals in proportion to power change rate. A series of analysis were performed for the natural-cooling characteristic test using TRACY in which the power changed slowly for 5 hours after the transient power resulting from the reactivity insertion of a 0.5 dollar. It was found that the code system was able to calculate within the limit of practical time, and acquired the prospect of reproducing the experimental values considerably for the power and temperature change.