Improvement of the loss-of-coolant accident simulation test apparatus for high-burnup fuel rods

齋藤 涼太; 小椋 数馬; 小畑 裕希; 小野澤 淳 

Saito, Ryota; Komuro, Kazuma; Obata, Hiroki; Onozawa, Atsushi

Previous Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) simulation test apparatus has been installed to observe fuel cladding tube behaviors under LOCA condition. Based on several research activities regarding LOCA condition, Fuel Fragmentation, Relocation and Dispersal (FFRD) of high-burnup fuel has been observed, and these phenomena were estimated as one of the most important events to evaluate the safety margin of high burnup fuels of light water reactors. However, previous LOCA test apparatus was designed to perform the tests with dummy pellets of the aluminum oxide due to the contamination management inside the hot cell. Therefore, the apparatus improvement was performed to observe the FFRD event with the spent fuel rods without defueling. In this presentation, the detail designs of the test apparatus will be presented.