Development of coupling technology for high temperature gas-cooled reactors and hydrogen production facility; HTTR heat application test project plan

Ishii, Katsunori; Morita, Keisuke; Noguchi, Hiroki; Aoki, Takeshi; Mizuta, Naoki; Hasegawa, Takeshi; Nagatsuka, Kentaro; Nomoto, Yasunobu; Shimizu, Atsushi; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; et al.

Dai-27-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 4 Pages, 2023/09

https://doi.org/10.1299/jsmepes.2023.27.A242

Current status of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) development, 1; Overview of ATF development conducted under the technology development project for improving nuclear safety

Yamashita, Shinichiro

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi ATOMO, 65(4), p.233 - 237, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.3327/jaesjb.65.4_233

In the wake of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) of TEPCO due to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, interest in the early implementation of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) not only for many existing NPPs but also for future NPPs, which is expected to dramatically improve the safety of light water reactors, has increased globally, and research and development is currently underway in many countries around the world. In this article, an overview of domestic ATF technology development that has been carried out with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry since 2015, will be introduced.

Unstructured-mesh simulation of sodium-water reaction in tube bundle system by SERAPHIM code

Uchibori, Akihiro; Shiina, Yoshimi*; Watanabe, Akira*; Takata, Takashi*

Proceedings of 19th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-19) (Internet), 12 Pages, 2022/03

An unstructured mesh-based analysis method has been integrated into the sodium-water reaction analysis code, SERAPHIM, in our recent studies. In this study, numerical analysis of an experiment on sodium-water reaction in a tube bundle domain was performed to investigate the effect of the unstructured mesh. The unrealistic behavior appeared in the coarse structured mesh was improved by the unstructured mesh. The numerical result in the case of the unstructured mesh reproduced the peak value of the temperature in the reacting flow.

Impact assessment for internal flooding in HTTR (High temperature engineering test reactor)

Tochio, Daisuke; Nagasumi, Satoru; Inoi, Hiroyuki; Hamamoto, Shimpei; Ono, Masato; Kobayashi, Shoichi; Uesaka, Takahiro; Watanabe, Shuji; Saito, Kenji

JAEA-Technology 2021-014, 80 Pages, 2021/09

JAEA-Technology-2021-014.pdf:5.87MB

In response to the new regulatory standards established in response to the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in March 2011, measures and impact assessments related to internal flooding at HTTR were carried out. In assessing the impact, considering the characteristics of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, flooding due to assumed damage to piping and equipment, flooding due to water discharge from the system installed to prevent the spread of fire, and flooding due to damage to piping and equipment due to an earthquake. The effects of submersion, flooding, and flooding due to steam were evaluated for each of them. The impact of the overflow of liquids containing radioactive materials outside the radiation-controlled area was also evaluated. As a result, it was confirmed that flooding generated at HTTR does not affect the safety function of the reactor facility by taking measures.

Droplet-entrainment phenomena affected by interfacial behavior of a high-speed gas jet into a liquid pool

Saito, Masafumi*; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*; Uchibori, Akihiro; Kurihara, Akikazu; Takata, Takashi*; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

Proceedings of 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 28) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2021/08

In order to provide the data for validation and improvement of the sodium-water reaction analysis code, a visualization experiment on liquid droplet entrainment in a high-pressure air jet submerged in a water pool was conducted. Diameter and velocity of entrained liquid droplets were successfully measured. The effect of a nozzle shape was elucidated.

Development of numerical analysis code LEAP-III for tube failure propagation

Uchibori, Akihiro; Yanagisawa, Hideki*; Takata, Takashi; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

Nihon Kikai Gakkai Rombunshu (Internet), 86(883), p.19-00353_1 - 19-00353_6, 2020/03

https://doi.org/10.1299/transjsme.19-00353

Evaluation of occurrence possibility of tube failure propagation under sodium-water reaction accident is an important issue. In this study, a numerical analysis method to predict occurrence of failure propagation by overheating rupture was constructed to expand application range of an existing computer code. Applicability of the method was constructed through the numerical analysis of the experiment on water vapor discharging in liquid sodium.

Evaluation of target-wastage in consideration of sodium-water reaction environment formed on the periphery of an adjacent tube in steam generator of sodium-cooled fast reactor

Kurihara, Akikazu; Umeda, Ryota; Shimoyama, Kazuhito; Kikuchi, Shin

Nihon Kikai Gakkai Rombunshu (Internet), 84(859), p.17-00382_1 - 17-00382_11, 2018/03

https://doi.org/10.1299/transjsme.17-00382

Wastage on adjacent tubes (target-wastage) arise from water/steam leak in steam generators of sodium-cooled fast reactors (sodium-water reaction). Target-wastage is likely to be caused by liquid droplet impingement erosion (LDI) and Na-Fe composite oxidation type corrosion with flow (COCF) in an environment marked by high temperature and high-alkali (reaction jet) due to sodium-water reaction. In the previous study, the authors quantitatively evaluated the effect of material temperature and fluid velocity on COCF rate, and revealed that COCF was sodium-iron composite oxidation type corrosion from metallographic observation and element assay. In this study, the applicability of new wastage correlations was confirmed for each tube in sodium-water reaction test with straight vertical tube bundle under practical steam generator operation condition. The authors established that the new wastage correlations were applicable to each tube of tube bundle in the above test, and the time progress of wastage was qualitatively investigated for the two penetrated tubes in the period including the water and/or steam blowdown.

Phenomenon elucidation experiment for target wastage caused in steam generator of sodium-cooled fast reactor; Corrosion experiment in flowing high-temperature sodium hydroxide environment

Umeda, Ryota; Shimoyama, Kazuhito; Kurihara, Akikazu

JAEA-Technology 2017-018, 70 Pages, 2017/08

JAEA-Technology-2017-018.pdf:9.67MB

In case of the water leak into sodium in a SG of SFRs due to tube failure, reaction jet is formed by sodium-water reaction with exothermic heat. The reaction jet forms highly alkaline environment with high temperature and high pressure, which cause local thinning of adjacent heat transfer tubes (target wastage). In this report, for the purpose of elucidation of target wastage, the authors developed the experimental apparatus and experimental technique which enable the separate evaluation of wastage influence factors, including temperature, impingement velocity, reagent ratio and so on by using high temperature sodium hydroxide as major reaction product and sodium monoxide as secondary reaction product. In addition, the impingement corrosion experiments have been conducted by using high temperature reagents (NaOH and NaO). Based on the corrosive data, authors quantitatively evaluated the influence factors of wastage and formulated the average corrosive equations.

Development of LEAP-III code for evaluation of long-time event progress under tube failure accident in steam generators

Uchibori, Akihiro; Yanagisawa, Hideki*; Takata, Takashi; Kurihara, Akikazu; Hamada, Hirotsugu; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

JAEA-Research 2017-007, 61 Pages, 2017/07

JAEA-Research-2017-007.pdf:4.3MB

For safety assessment of a steam generator of sodium-cooled fast reactors, it is necessary to evaluate the possibility of occurring tube failure propagation and of water leak rate under sodium-water reaction accident. In the previous studies, a computer code called LEAP-II calculating a wastage-type failure propagation and the water leak rate during long-time event progress was developed. In this study, a numerical method to evaluate the possibility of occurring overheating rupture was introduced into the LEAP-II code to expand application range of this code. The completed code is called LEAP-III. The test analysis on a tube bundle configuration demonstrated that the overheating rupture model could provide conservative prediction.

Rapid heating rupture experiment using the high chromium steel tubes

Umeda, Ryota; Kurihara, Akikazu; Shimoyama, Kazuhito

JAEA-Technology 2016-030, 50 Pages, 2016/12

JAEA-Technology-2016-030.pdf:5.22MB

In case of tube failure of a steam generator in sodium-cooled fast reactors, the reaction jet with high temperature and high velocity under highly alkaline environment is formed by cited exothermic reaction (sodium-water reaction). When the high temperature reaction jet covers the adjacent tubes, the material strength of tube decreases in the high temperature condition, and the adjacent tube may be swollen and failed by inner pressure (overheating tube rupture). For evaluation of the overheating tube rupture, tube failure is judged by comparison the hoop stress loaded by inner pressure with stress strength standard defined as creep strength depending on tube temperature. Thus, it is important to confirm the validation of this failure criterion based on the findings obtained in the simulated experiment of overheating tube rupture. In this report, for consideration on the validation of the failure criteria and elucidation on the failure mode and strength characteristics of failure, the authors carried out the rapid heating rupture experiment for the thin single and double-walled 9Cr steel tubes at high temperature up to 1500 K by using TRUST-2 rig in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.