Rationalization of gas entrainment allowance level at free surface of sodium-cooled fast reactor

Yamaguchi, Akira*; Takata, Takashi*; Tatsumi, Eisaku*; Ito, Kei; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Kamide, Hideki; Sakakibara, Jun*

Proceedings of 7th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-7) (CD-ROM), 16 Pages, 2008/10

In a sodium-cooled fast reactor, inert gases exist in the primary coolant system either in a state of dissolved gas or free gas bubbles. The gas in the primary system may cause disturbance in reactivity, nucleation site for boiling, etc. Therefore, the allowance level is necessary regarding the gas entrainment and the gas bubble concentration. In the present study, a gas entrainment allowance level is discussed and rationalized. For the purpose, a plant dynamics code VIBUL has been developed to evaluate the concentration distribution of the dissolved gas and the free gas bubble. Assuming that the total void fraction should be kept below 105% of the background level, a preliminary design allowance level of gas entrainment is proposed as the map in terms of the entrainment ratio and the entrained bubble radius. Furthermore, the possibility of bubble removal is investigated to satisfy the allowance level.