Experimental study on prevention of high cycle thermal fatigue at the core outlet of advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor; Characteristics of temperature fluctuations and countermeasures to mitigate temperature fluctuations at a bottom of upper internal structure

Kobayashi, Jun ; Aizawa, Kosuke ; Ezure, Toshiki ; Nagasawa, Kazuyoshi*; Kurihara, Akikazu ; Tanaka, Masaaki  

The design studies of an advanced loop-type sodium-cooled fast reactor (Advanced- SFR) have been carried out by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). At the core outlet, temperature fluctuations occur due to mixing of hot sodium from the fuel assembly with cold sodium from the control rod channels and radial blanket assembly. These temperature fluctuations may cause high cycle thermal fatigue around a bottom of Upper Internal Structure (UIS) located above the core. Therefore, we conducted a water experiment using a 1/3 scale 60 degree sector model that simulated the upper plenum of the advanced loop-type sodium-cooled reactor. And we proposed some countermeasures against large temperature fluctuations that occur at the bottom of the UIS. In this report, we have summarized that the effect of the countermeasure structure to mitigate the temperature fluctuation generated at the bottom of UIS is confirmed, and the Reynolds number dependency of the countermeasure structure and the characteristics of the temperature fluctuation on the control rod surface.