Status of numerical tools development and experimental study supporting safety design and assessment of SFRs in Japan

Fukano, Yoshitaka  ; Kubo, Shigenobu 

In Japan, in order to realize the design, construction, and operation of the Joyo and the Monju, safety research for SFRs has been conducted, and the technical basis for the safety evaluation of SFRs has been developed. In order to understand the characteristics of the reactor core and cooling system unique to SFR and various phenomena during accidents, a set of numerical tools for safety analysis has been developed and applied to the safety evaluation of Joyo and Monju, and established the basis of the safety evaluation technology for SFRs including the plant dynamics analysis method, data on integrity and failure limits of fuel and reactor structure, sodium combustion analysis method, sodium-water reaction analysis method for water leak in steam generator, evaluation method for CDA and PRA. This paper describes the current status of experimental studies and development of numerical tools for SFRs in Japan and the future research plan.