Validation of the fast reactor plant dynamics analysis code Super-COPD using FFTF loss of flow without scram test #13

Hamase, Erina; Ohgama, Kazuya; Kawamura, Takumi*; Doda, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki; Yamano, Hidemasa

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 195, p.110157_1 - 110157_14, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2023.110157

To validate the fast reactor plant dynamics analysis code Super-COPD for the loss of flow without scram (LOFWOS) event, we participated in the IAEA benchmark for the LOFWOS test No.13 performed at the FFTF as one of the passive safety demonstration test. In the blind phase, there were challenges to reproduce outlet temperatures of fuel assemblies and the total reactivity. To improve the evaluation accuracy of them, the whole core model considering the radial heat transfer and interwrapper flow and the simplified assembly bowing reactivity model were introduced. As a result of the final phase, the second peak of outlet temperatures was reproduced successfully, and the total reactivity could generally follow the measured data. Super-COPD was validated for the LOFWOS event.

JSME series in thermal and nuclear power generation Vol.3 (Sodium-cooled fast reactor development; R&Ds on thermal-hydraulics and safety assessment towards social implementation)

Tanaka, Masaaki; Uchibori, Akihiro; Okano, Yasushi; Yokoyama, Kenji; Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Enuma, Yasuhiro; Wakai, Takashi; Asayama, Tai

Dai-27-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 5 Pages, 2023/09

The book, JSME Series in Thermal and Nuclear Power Generation Vol.3 Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor, was published as a 30th anniversary memorial project of Power & Energy Systems Division. This paper describes an introduction of the book on a part of key technologies regarding safety assessment, thermal-hydraulics, neutronics, and fuel and material development. This introductory paper also provides an overview of an integrated evaluation system named ARKADIA to offer the best possible solutions for challenges arising during the design process, safety assessment, and operation of a nuclear plant over its life cycle, in active use of the R&D efforts and knowledges on thermal-hydraulics and safety assessment with state-of-the-art numerical analysis technologies.

Development of a statistical evaluation method for core hot spot temperature in sodium-cooled fast reactor under natural circulation conditions

Doda, Norihiro; Igawa, Kenichi*; Iwasaki, Takashi*; Murakami, Satoshi*; Tanaka, Masaaki

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 410, p.112377_1 - 112377_15, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112377

To enhance the safety of sodium-cooled fast reactors, the decay heat in the core must be removed by natural circulation even if the AC power supply to the forced circulation equipment is lost. Under natural circulation conditions, sodium flow is driven by buoyancy, and flow velocity and temperature distribution influence each other. Thus, it is difficult to evaluate the core hot spot temperature by deterministically considering the uncertainties affecting flow and heat. In this study, a statistical evaluation method is developed for the core hot spot temperature by using Monte Carlo sampling methods. The applicability of the core hotspot evaluation method was confirmed in three representative events during natural circulation decay heat removal operations in loop-type sodium-cooled fast reactors.

Development of a design optimization framework for sodium-cooled fast reactors, 2; Development of optimization analysis control function

Doda, Norihiro; Nakamine, Yoshiaki*; Kuwagaki, Kazuki; Hamase, Erina; Kikuchi, Norihiro; Yoshimura, Kazuo; Matsushita, Kentaro; Tanaka, Masaaki

Keisan Kogaku Koenkai Rombunshu (CD-ROM), 28, 5 Pages, 2023/05

As a part of the development of the "Advanced Reactor Knowledge- and AI-aided Design Integration Approach through the whole plant lifecycle (ARKADIA)" to automatically optimize the life cycle of innovative nuclear reactors including fast reactors, ARKADIA-design is being developed to support the optimization of fast reactor in the conceptual design stage. ARKADIA-Design consists of three systems (Virtual plant Life System (VLS), Evaluation assistance and Application System (EAS), and Knowledge Management System (KMS)). A design optimization framework controls the connection between the three systems through the interfaces in each system. This paper reports on the development of an optimization analysis control function that performs design optimization analysis combining plant behavior analysis by VLS and optimization study by EAS.

Validation study of thermal-hydraulics analysis code SPIRAL to a large-scale wire-wrapped fuel assembly sodium test at a low Reynolds number flow regime

Yoshikawa, Ryuji; Imai, Yasutomo*; Kikuchi, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki; Gerschenfeld, A.*

Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2023/05

Removal of core decay heat by utilizing natural circulation is expected as a significant measure to enhance the safety of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). Accurate evaluation of the temperature distribution in the fuel assembly (FA) at the low Re regime in natural circulation operation is demanded. A detailed thermal-hydraulics analysis code named SPIRAL has been developed to clarify thermal-hydraulic phenomena in the FA at various operation conditions. In this study, SPIRAL with the hybrid turbulence model was applied to analyze a large-scale fuel assembly experiment of a 91-pin bundle for two cases at the mixed and the natural convection conditions respectively in low Re regime with heat transfer from outside of the FA. The applicability of the SPIRAL to the thermal-hydraulics evaluation of FA at mixed and natural convection conditions was confirmed by the comparisons of temperatures predicted by SPIRAL with those measured in the experiment.

Validation of feedback reactivity evaluation models for plant dynamics analysis code during unprotected loss of heat sink event in sodium-cooled fast reactors

Yoshimura, Kazuo; Doda, Norihiro; Igawa, Kenichi*; Tanaka, Masaaki; Yamano, Hidemasa

Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science, 9(2), p.021601_1 - 021601_9, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4055328

Feedback reactivity automatically caused by radial expansion of the core is known as one of the inherent safety features in a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). In order to validate the evaluation models of the reactivity feedback equipped in the in-house plant dynamics analysis code named Super-COPD, the benchmark analyses for the unprotected loss of heat sink (ULOHS) tests of BOP-302R and BOP-301 in an experimental SFR, EBR-II were conducted and the applicability of the evaluation method for the reactivity feedback was indicated during the ULOHS even, by comparing the numerical results and the experimental data.

Probabilistic risk assessment for sodium-cooled fast reactors by the CMMC method; Consideration of operator's recognition probability for accident managements

Koike, Akari*; Nemoto, Masaya*; Nakashima, Risako*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Doda, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki

Proceedings of 2023 International Congress on Advanced in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2023) (Internet), 2 Pages, 2023/04

To evaluate the effect of the operator's recognition of the accident management (AM) necessity on plant safety, the operator's recognition of the AM necessity was modeled as a function of time-dependent success probability, and dynamic PRA analyses were performed for a sodium-cooled fast reactor during abnormal snowfall. The analysis results showed that the operator's recognition of the snowfall can avoid the core damage at an earlier stage after the accident.

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

JAEA-Research 2022-009, 125 Pages, 2023/01

JAEA-Research-2022-009.pdf:29.22MB

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.

Development of evaluation method for core deformation reactivity in sodium-cooled fast reactor; Verification of core deformation reactivity evaluation based on first-order perturbation theory

Doda, Norihiro; Kato, Shinya; Iida, Masaki*; Yokoyama, Kenji; Tanaka, Masaaki

Proceedings of 12th Japan-Korea Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS12) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2022/10

In the conventional core design in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), negative reactivity feedback due to core deformation was neglected because of large uncertainty in analytical evaluation. To optimize core design, it is necessary to develop an analytical evaluation method and eliminate excessive conservativeness. An evaluation method for core deformation reactivity has been developed by coupling analysis of neutronics, thermal-hydraulics, and structural mechanics. For the verification study of the neutronics calculation method, the reactivity was calculated for the deformed core geometry in which the fuel assembly (FA) moved horizontally in the radial direction for each row from the core center. Compared to reference values derived from Monte Carlo calculations, the calculated reactivity due to FA displacement agreed well in the core region and was overestimated in the reflector region. The modification challenges in development of the core deformation model were identified.

Development of reactor vessel thermal-hydraulic analysis method in natural circulation conditions with coarse-mesh subchannel CFD model

Hamase, Erina; Miyake, Yasuhiro*; Imai, Yasutomo*; Doda, Norihiro; Ono, Ayako; Tanaka, Masaaki

Proceedings of 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-13) (Internet), 12 Pages, 2022/09

To enhance the safety of sodium-cooled fast reactors, the natural circulation (NC) decay heat removal systems with a dipped-type direct heat exchanger (D-DHX) have been investigated. During the D-DHX operation, since the core-plenum interaction occurs, development of the reactor vessel model including the more model by using a computational fluid dynamics code (RV-CFD) is required. Previously, the CFD model based on the subchannel analysis was developed. In this study, to achieve much lower computational cost maintaining the prediction accuracy, the coarse-mesh subchannel CFD (CMSC) model has been developed and was incorporated into the core of RV-CFD. As a result of PLANDTL-1 test analysis, the RV-CFD with the CMSC model can reproduce the radial heat transfer under NC conditions.