Development of analysis methods for SFR severe accidents in JAEA and assessment of applicability to safety analysis

Tobita, Yoshiharu; Tagami, Hirotaka; Ishida, Shinya; Onoda, Yuichi; Sogabe, Joji; Okano, Yasushi

IAEA-TECDOC-2079, p.72 - 84, 2025/00

https://doi.org/10.61092/iaea.xpz1-gu7q

Since the fast reactor core is not in the maximum reactivity configuration, a hypothetical core disruptive accident could lead to the prompt criticality due to a change in the core material configuration, and the resulting energy generation has been one of the issues in fast reactor safety, and therefore appropriate measures are needed to mitigate and contain the effect of energy generated in the accident. In order to assess the effectiveness of these mitigative measures, a set of computer codes to analyze the event progressions and energy generation behavior in the ATWS of fast reactors have been developed, maintained, and improved under international collaboration in JAEA. Since the important physical phenomena, which govern the event progression, vary along with the progression of the accident, the whole accident process is divided into several phases in the analysis of accident, and dedicated analysis methods for each phase are provided to analyze the event progression in each phase. The organization and overview of these analysis methods are described in this paper. As a representative example of the validation approaches in applying these analysis methods to the reactor safety assessment in licensing procedure in Japan, the validation studies to confirm the applicability to reactor analysis of the SIMMER code for analyzing core material movement and reactor power, which is important to analyze the energy generation in the accident, are presented in the paper. The validation studies of the SIMMER code confirmed the applicability of SIMMER to the reactor analysis, while the critical phenomena that the effect of their uncertainty in the reactor analysis should be checked were also recognized.

Multi-phase flow topology and interfacial area model for SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV

Tobita, Yoshiharu*; Kondo, Satoru; Morita, Koji*

JAEA-Research 2024-010, 77 Pages, 2024/10

JAEA-Research-2024-010.pdf:1.6MB

The multi-component, multi-phase flow topology and interfacial area model has been developed for the SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV computer codes, which have been extensively used in liquid-metal fast reactor core-disruptive accident analyses. To systematically simulate complex flow topology, flow regime maps are modeled, for both the pool flow and channel flow regimes, with smooth transition between flow regimes. The interfacial area convection model was formulated to enhance the applicability and flexibility of the codes, by tracing the transport and history of interfaces, and thereby better representing transient physical phenomena. The changes of interfacial areas resulting from such as breakup, coalescence, and production of droplets or bubbles were treated as source terms in the interfacial area convection equation. In a multi-component system of SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV, all the possible contacts between components are taken into account, and the fluid-to-fluid and fluid-to-structure binary contact areas are prepared for the calculations of heat and mass transfer processes and momentum-exchange functions. The multi-phase flow topology and interfacial area model developed in this study was the first of a kind as a fast reactor safety analysis code. The model has been extensively tested through the code assessment (verification and validation) program, which has demonstrated that many of the problems associated with simplistic modeling in the previous codes were resolved.

SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV; Computer codes for LMFR core disruptive accident analysis

Kondo, Satoru; Tobita, Yoshiharu*; Morita, Koji*; Kamiyama, Kenji; Yamano, Hidemasa; Suzuki, Toru*; Tagami, Hirotaka; Sogabe, Joji; Ishida, Shinya

JAEA-Research 2024-008, 235 Pages, 2024/10

JAEA-Research-2024-008.pdf:4.77MB

The SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV computer codes, developed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency are the codes with two- and three-dimensional, multi-field, multi-component fluid-dynamics models, coupled with a space- and time-dependent neutron kinetics model. The codes have been used widely for simulating complex phenomena during core-disruptive accidents in liquid-metal fast reactors. Advanced features of the codes in comparison with the former codes include: stable and robust fluid-dynamics algorithm with up to 8 velocity fields, improved representation of structures and multi-phase flow topology, comprehensive treatment of complex heat and mass transfer processes, accurate analytic equations of state, a stable and efficient neutron flux shape solution method and decay heat model. This report describes the models and methods of SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV. For those individual models, the details of which have been reported elsewhere, only the outlines of the models are presented. The reports of code verification and validation have been already published.

Development of severe accident simulation code for sodium-cooled fast reactors: SIMMER-V, 1; Overview of the SIMMER-V code development

Tagami, Hirotaka; Ishida, Shinya; Okano, Yasushi; Yamano, Hidemasa; Kubo, Shigenobu; Payot, F.*; Saas, L.*; Trotignon, L.*; Gubernatis, P.*; Dufour, E.*; et al.

Proceedings of 11th European Review Meeting on Severe Accident Research Conference (ERMSAR 2024) (Internet), 12 Pages, 2024/05

https://doi.org/10.5445/IR/1000174165

JAEA has been developing the SIMMER-V code in collaboration with CEA to perform severe accident (SA) simulations of future sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) including a unique core design with large-scale heterogeneous cores. An SA sequence in SFRs has been analyzed by: the SAS4A code for the Initiation Phase (IP), in which fuel pin disruption and vertical fuel dispersion occur in individual fuel subassemblies; and the two-dimensional SIMMER-III or three-dimensional SIMMER-IV code for the Transition Phase (TP), in which core disruption extends to the whole core. The joint development of SIMMER-V is of limited scope but aims at significantly expanding the code applicability by providing flexible interfaces to couple a SIMMER-V calculation with other computational domains or other codes, and by adding new advanced physical models such as a detailed fuel pin model and a model of flexible treatment of fuel isotopic composition. The former tasks are conducted by CEA the latter tasks by JAEA. In parallel to the code development, verification and validation of the new models and methods have been performed. This paper describes the objectives and overall framework of SIMMER-V code development program, representative new elements, and recent development progress.

SIMMER-IV application to safety assessment of severe accident in a small SFR

Tagami, Hirotaka; Tobita, Yoshiharu

Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 56(3), p.873 - 879, 2024/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2023.10.021

A sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) core has a potential of prompt criticality due to a change of core material distribution during a severe accident, and the resultant energy release has been one of the safety issues of SFRs. In this study, the safety assessment of an unprotected loss-of-flow (ULOF) in a small SFR (SSFR) has been performed using the SIMMER-IV computer code, which couples the models of space- and time-dependent neutronics and multi-component, multi-field thermal hydraulics in three dimensions. The code, therefore, is applicable to the simulations of transient behaviors of extended disrupted core material motion and its reactivity effects during the transition phase (TP) of ULOF, including a potential of prompt-criticality power excursions driven by fuel compaction. Several conservative assumptions are used in the TP analysis by SIMMER-IV. It was found out that one of the important mechanisms that drives the reactivity-inserting fuel motion was sodium vapor pressure resulted from a fuel-coolant interaction (FCI), which itself was non-energetic local phenomenon. The uncertainties relating to FCI is also evaluated in much conservative way in the sensitivity analysis. From this study, the ULOF characteristics in an SSFR have been understood. Occurrence of recriticality events under conservative assumptions are plausible, but their energy releases are limited.

Development and verification of detailed fuel pin model in the SIMMER-V code

Ishida, Shinya; Tagami, Hirotaka; Tobita, Yoshiharu; Okano, Yasushi; Yamano, Hidemasa; Kubo, Shigenobu

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

no abstracts in English

SIMMER application to safety assessment of core disruptive accident

Tagami, Hirotaka; Tobita, Yoshiharu

Proceedings of 2023 International Congress on Advanced in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2023) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2023/04

Recently, the safety analysis for a licensing of small nuclear power fast reactor is performed. It is necessary to confirm the effectiveness of the design measure to prevent the CV failure in the licensing procedure. Because the energy generation in TP of ULOF is one of the main factors to affect the integrity of CV, the ULOF behavior is analyzed using SIMMER developed under international cooperation. Although the characteristic of TP in small reactor is a slow and mild event progression due to the negative void reactivity, several conservative assumptions are applied in the analysis. Because the prompt criticality by fuel compaction is mainly driven by a fuel coolant interaction, its impact on energy generation is also investigated by conservatively assuming uncertainties. The obtained results by the analysis using SIMMER are used for the subsequent phase to analyze the mechanical integrities of reactor vessel and CV.

Background radiation monitoring using manned helicopter for establishment of technique of nuclear emergency response in the fiscal year 2017 (Contract research)

Futemma, Akira; Sanada, Yukihisa; Iwai, Takeyuki*; Seguchi, Eisaku; Matsunaga, Yuki*; Kawabata, Tomoki; Toyoda, Masayuki*; Tobita, Shinichiro*; Hiraga, Shogo*; Sato, Kazuhiko*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2018-016, 98 Pages, 2019/02

JAEA-Technology-2018-016.pdf:18.64MB

By the nuclear disaster of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the following tsunami on March 11, 2011, a large amount of radioactive material was released from the NPS. After the nuclear disaster, airborne radiation monitoring using manned helicopter was conducted around FDNPS. We have carried out the background monitoring around the nuclear power stations of the whole country to apply the airborne radiation monitoring technique that has been cultivated in Fukushima against nuclear emergency response. The results of monitoring around Tomari, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa and Genkai Nuclear Power Station in the fiscal 2017 were summarized in this report. In addition, technical issues were described.

Numerical analysis of core disruptive accident in a metal-fueled sodium-cooled fast reactor

Yamano, Hidemasa; Tobita, Yoshiharu

Proceedings of 11th Korea-Japan Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS-11) (Internet), 3 Pages, 2018/11

Based on the event tree analysis, the present numerical analyses investigated the capability of fuel discharge through the one-dimensional single fuel assembly geometry and the two-dimensional geometry of a CRGT channel with neighboring fuel assemblies. The single fuel assembly analyses showed that the fuel blockage formed in the lower shielding region because fuel solidified by contacting with cold sodium in case of no fission gas release. On the assumption that fission gas was released, the molten fuel successfully relocated below the core. The next analyses using the CRGT channel indicated a significant fuel discharge through the CRGT channel. This is because the fuel temperature was still high just after the CRGT wall failure and sodium in the CRGT channel was quickly voided just after the ingress of a small amount of molten fuel.

Model for particle behavior in debris bed

Tagami, Hirotaka; Cheng, S.*; Tobita, Yoshiharu; Morita, Koji*

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 328, p.95 - 106, 2018/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.12.029