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Yoshikawa, Ryuji; Imai, Yasutomo*; Kikuchi, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki; Ohshima, Hiroyuki
Nuclear Technology, 210(5), p.814 - 835, 2024/05
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)In the study of safety enhancement on advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor, it is essential to clarify the thermal-hydraulics under various operation conditions in a fuel assembly (FA) with the wire-wrapped fuel pins to assess the structural integrity of the fuel pin. A finite element thermal-hydraulics analysis code named SPIRAL has been developed to analyze the detailed thermal-hydraulics phenomena in a FA. In this study, the numerical simulations of the 37-pin bundle sodium experiments at different Re number conditions, including a transitional condition between laminar and turbulent flows and turbulent flow conditions, were performed to validate the hybrid turbulence model equipped in SPIRAL. The temperature distributions predicted by SPIRAL was consistent with those measured in the experiments. Through the validation study, the applicability of the hybrid turbulence model in SPIRAL to thermal-hydraulic evaluation of sodium-cooled FA in the wide range of Re number was confirmed.
Kawaguchi, Munemichi; Hirakawa, Yasushi; Sugita, Yusuke; Yamaguchi, Yutaka
Nuclear Technology, 210(1), p.55 - 71, 2024/01
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)This study has developed an estimation method for residual sodium film and sodium lumps on dummy fuel pins in Monju and demonstrated sodium draining behavior through gaps among the pins, experimentally. The amounts of the residual sodium on the surface of the pins were measured using the three-type test specimens: (a) single pin, (b) 7-pin assembly, and (c) 169-pin assembly. The experiments revealed that the withdrawal speed of the pins and improvement of the sodium wetting increased drastically the amounts of the residual sodium. Furthermore, the experiments using the 169-pin assembly measured the practical amounts of the residual sodium in the dummy fuel assembly of short length and demonstrated sodium draining behavior through the dummy fuel assembly. The estimation method includes four models: a viscosity flow model, Landau-Levich-Derjaguin (LLD) model, an empirical equation related to the Bretherton model, and a capillary force model in a tube. The calculation predicted comparable amounts of the residual sodium with the experiments. An uncertain of the sodium wetting effects were close to 1.8 times the estimation values of the LLD model. With this estimation method, the amounts of the residual sodium on the unloaded Monju dummy fuel assembly can be evaluated.
Sono, Hiroki; Izawa, Kazuhiko; Yoritsune, Tsutomu; Suyama, Kenya; Tonoike, Kotaro
Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC2023) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2023/10
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has constructed and operated nine critical assemblies. Of these nine facilities as of 2023, four have already been dismantled, four are under decommissioning, and only STACY is active but under temporally shutdown. STACY is scheduled to restart in 2024 after core modification from a "critical assembly using uranium nitrate solution fuel" to a "general-purpose critical assembly using uranium fuel rods and light-water moderator." The immediate objective of new STACY is to acquire criticality data for fuel debris removal from the damaged reactors in Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. After the critical experiment program regarding fuel debris, the new STACY is expected to be used for various R&D on next-generation power reactors and others. In addition, the new STACY will serve as an educational and training reactor. These activities are useful not only for Japan but also for international collaborative research and joint use.
Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Ito, Masahiro*; Ishitani, Ikuo*
JAEA-Technology 2023-006, 36 Pages, 2023/05
The BAMBOO code developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency is a computer code to analyze fuel pin bundle deformation in a fast reactor wire-spaced type fuel pin bundle subassembly. In this study we developed an analysis model to consider friction at the contact points between adjacent fuel pins, and at these between outermost fuel pins and a duct that are due to bundle-duct interaction. This model deals with friction forces at contact points in the contact and separation analysis of the code, and employs a convergent calculation where contact forces are gradually determined to avoid numerical instability when the friction occurs. Analyses of BAMBOO with the model showed very slight effects on the onset of contact between outer most pins and a duct, and on directions of pin displacements, within the range of practical friction coefficients.
Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Horiguchi, Naoki; Ono, Ayako; Furuichi, Hajime*; Katono, Kenichi*
Proceedings of 29th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 29) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2022/08
Ono, Ayako; Yamashita, Susumu; Sakashita, Hiroto*; Suzuki, Takayuki*; Yoshida, Hiroyuki
Dai-26-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 4 Pages, 2022/07
JAEA is implementing a simulation of a two-phase flow in the reactor core by TPFIT and JUPITER which are developed by JAEA based on the surface tracking method. However, it is impossible to simulate a boiling on the heating surface in the large-scale domain by this type of simulation method since the simulation of boiling based on the surface tracking method needs the fine mesh which sufficiently resolves the initiation of boiling. Therefore, JAEA started to develop the simplified boiling model applied for the two-phase flow in the fuel assemblies. In this study, the simulation results of the convection boiling on a vertical heating surface and the comparison between the simulation results and experimental results are shown.
Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Nemoto, Junichi*; Ito, Masahiro*; Ishitani, Ikuo*; Doda, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki; Otsuka, Satoshi
Nuclear Technology, 207(8), p.1280 - 1289, 2021/08
Times Cited Count:3 Percentile:30.60(Nuclear Science & Technology)Computer codes for irradiation behavior analysis of a fuel pin and a fuel pin bundle and for coolant thermal hydraulics analysis were coupled into an integrated code system. In the system, each code provides data required by other codes and the analyzed results are shared among them. The system allows for the synthesizing of analyses of thermal, chemical and mechanical behaviors in a fuel subassembly under irradiation. A test analysis was made for a fuel subassembly containing a mixed oxide fuel pin bundle irradiated in a fast reactor. The results of the analysis were presented with transverse cross-sectional images of the fuel subassembly and three-dimensional images of a fuel pin and fuel pin bundle models. For detailed evaluation, various irradiation behaviors of all fuel pins in the subassembly were analyzed and correlated with irradiation conditions.
Fukushima, Masahiro; Goda, J.*; Oizumi, Akito; Bounds, J.*; Cutler, T.*; Grove, T.*; Hayes, D.*; Hutchinson, J.*; McKenzie, G.*; McSpaden, A.*; et al.
Nuclear Science and Engineering, 194(2), p.138 - 153, 2020/02
Times Cited Count:7 Percentile:57.46(Nuclear Science & Technology)To validate lead (Pb) nuclear cross sections, a series of integral experiments to measure lead void reactivity worth was conducted systematically in three fast spectra with different fuel compositions on the Comet critical assembly of the National Criticality Experiments Research Center. Previous experiments in a high-enriched uranium (HEU)/Pb and a low-enriched uranium (LEU)/Pb systems had been performed in 2016 and 2017, respectively. A follow-on experiment in a plutonium (Pu)/Pb system has been completed. The Pu/Pb system was constructed using lead plates and weapons grade plutonium plates that had been used in the Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) of Argonne National Laboratory until the 1990s. Furthermore, the HEU/Pb system was re-examined on the Comet critical assembly installed newly with a device that can guarantee the gap reproducibility with a higher accuracy and precision, and then the experimental data was re evaluated. Using the lead void reactivity worth measured in these three cores with different fuel compositions, the latest nuclear data libraries, JENDL 4.0 and ENDF/B VIII.0, were tested with the Monte Carlo calculation code MCNP version 6.1. As a result, the calculations by ENDF/B-VIII.0 were confirmed to agree with lead void reactivity worth measured in all the cores. It was furthermore found that the calculations by JENDL 4.0 overestimate by more than 20% for the Pu/Pb core while being in good agreements for the HEU/Pb and LEU/Pb cores.
Ono, Ayako; Yamashita, Susumu; Suzuki, Takayuki*; Yoshida, Hiroyuki
Proceedings of 18th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-18) (USB Flash Drive), p.666 - 677, 2019/08
An evaluation methodology of critical heat fluxes (CHFs) based on a mechanism for fuel assemblies in light water reactors (LWRs) is needed in order to design and evaluate the safety for the fuel assemblies in LWRs. In our study, the numerical simulation with surface-tracking will be applied for the two-phase flow in fuel assemblies in order to obtain the detail data relating to the size and velocity of bubbles in the subchannel, which is needed to predict the CHF based on the mechanism. In this study, the numerical simulation of two-phase flow in 44 bundle was implemented by using JUPITER in order to establish the evaluation method of the size and velocity of bubbles by the numerical simulation, which is the multi-physics simulation code and enable to track the gas-liquid surface. The simulation results are validated by the curve of flow regime for air-water under the adiabatic condition. The bubble and velocity of bubbles obtained by simulation results are analyzed.
Kikuchi, Norihiro; Imai, Yasutomo*; Yoshikawa, Ryuji; Doda, Norihiro; Tanaka, Masaaki; Ohshima, Hiroyuki
Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 12 Pages, 2017/07
In the design study of an advanced loop-type SFR in JAEA, a specific fuel assembly (FA) named FAIDUS (Fuel Assembly with Inner DUct Structure) has been adopted as one of the measures to enhance safety of the reactor. Thermal-hydraulics evaluations of FAIDUS under various operation conditions are required to confirm its design feasibility. In this study, after the applicability of ASFRE to FAs was confirmed through the numerical analysis using simulated FA tests, thermal-hydraulic analyses of a FA without an inner duct and a FAIDUS were conducted. Through the numerical analyses, it was indicated that asymmetric temperature distribution in a FAIDUS would not be occurred and characteristics of the temperature distribution was almost the same as that in a FA without an inner duct. Under the low flow rate condition, it was expected that the local flow acceleration caused by the buoyancy force in a FAIDUS could bring the flow redistribution and make the temperature distribution flat.
Kikuchi, Norihiro; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Tanaka, Masaaki; Hashimoto, Akihiko*
Dai-21-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (USB Flash Drive), 4 Pages, 2016/06
For the thermal-hydraulic design and safety assessment regarding a fuel assembly of sodium-cooled fast reactors, a subchannel analysis code ASFRE has been and is continuously developed in JAEA. In the numerical simulation of ASFRE confirmed that the tendency to overestimate the maximum coolant temperature in a fuel assembly still remains. In this study, Distributed Resistance Model (DRM), which deals with wire-spacer wrap volumetric effect in subchannels on peripheral and axial directions, was modified and its calibration factor was optimized in order to improve the prediction accuracy of the maximum coolant temperature. A numerical simulation of a 37-pin bundle sodium experiment was also carried out and the result showed the validity of the modified DRM.
Kojima, Kensuke
Proceedings of International Conference on the Physics of Reactors; Unifying Theory and Experiments in the 21st Century (PHYSOR 2016) (USB Flash Drive), p.3283 - 3292, 2016/05
The MOSRA system has been developing to improve the applicability of the neutronic characteristic analyses. The cell calculation module MOSRA-SRAC is a core module of MOSRA, and applicability tests for realistic problems are required. As a test, MOSRA-SRAC is validated by comparison with measured values. As the measurement, the post irradiation examination SFCOMPO 99-5 is chosen. In the examination, the compositions of major heavy metal and fission product nuclides in a UO-GdO fuel rod pulled from the 88 BWR fuel assembly used in TEPCO's Fukushima-Daini-2 were measured. The result shows good agreement between calculated and measured value. For uranium and plutonium nuclides, calculated values agree within 5% except for Pu. Pu composition is overestimated by 30%, and the overestimation is caused by the unclearness of the void faction history of the fuel rod. For fission products, calculated values agree within approximately 10%.
Higashiuchi, Atsushi; Ishimi, Akihiro; Katsuyama, Kozo; Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Ichikawa, Shoichi
JAEA-Technology 2015-057, 72 Pages, 2016/03
Bundle-duct interaction (BDI) in fast reactors (FRs) is one of the limiting factors for burnup. To study the high performance fuel for FR fuel, it is important to establish the method to predict accurately the BDI behavior for the fuel assembly of large-diameter fuel pins. Therefore, it was adopted a new method that the bundle compression test apparatus is placed outside the cell, the bundle specimen is put in the airtight container for contamination prevention, and the bundle specimen is carried in the cell for internal observation by X-ray CT examination apparatus. From the result of this test, it was confirmed that the new method of out-of-pile bundle compression test is carried out as it was before. The results of this test are available to study integrity assessment of fast reactor fuel, validation of the BDI analysis code and substantiation of the safety design guidelines of fast reactor. In addition, it is possible to reflect in the BDI behavior evaluation for "ASTRID".
Bolind, A. M.*; Seya, Michio
JAEA-Review 2015-027, 233 Pages, 2015/12
This report surveys the 14 advanced NDA techniques that were examined by the Spent Fuel NDA Project of the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI) of the U.S. DOE-NNSA. It discusses and critique NDA techniques from a view point of obtaining higher accuracies. The report shows the main problem, large uncertainties in the assay results are caused primarily by using too few independent NDAs. In this report authors shows that at least three independent NDA techniques are required for obtaining better accuracies, since the physics of the NDA of SFAs is three dimensional.
Akimoto, Hajime
JAEA-Data/Code 2014-031, 75 Pages, 2015/03
A thermal-hydraulic analysis code for transmutation system with lead-bismuth cooled accelerator-driven system (ADS) has been developed using the Japanese-version of Transient Reactor Analysis Code (J-TRAC) as the framework to apply the design studies of ADS. To identify the required capabilities of the thermal-hydraulic analysis code for ADS, previous thermal-hydraulic analyses of light water reactors, sodium-cooled fast reactor and ADS have been surveyed. To make up for insufficient capabilities of the J-TRAC code as a thermal-hydraulic analysis code of ADS, physical properties of lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE), argon gas and nitride nuclear fuel were implemented to the J-TRAC code. It was confirmed that the implemented capabilities worked as expected through verification calculations on (1) single-phase LBE flow, (2) heat transfer in a fuel assembly, and (3) heat transfer in a steam generator.
Kamiyama, Kenji; Konishi, Kensuke; Sato, Ikken; Toyooka, Junichi; Matsuba, Kenichi; Suzuki, Toru; Tobita, Yoshiharu; Pakhnits, A. V.*; Vityuk, V. A.*; Vurim, A. D.*; et al.
Proceedings of 10th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-10) (USB Flash Drive), 8 Pages, 2014/12
Akimoto, Hajime; Tamai, Hidesada; Onuki, Akira; Takase, Kazuyuki
Nihon Konsoryu Gakkai Nenkai Koenkai 2005 Koen Rombunshu, p.229 - 230, 2005/08
A thermal-hydraulic research program for Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (RMWR) has been performed since 2002. The RMWR has a tight-lattice core to attain the breeding of nuclear fuel for the effective use of Plutonium in a light-water reactor system. In this R&D program, large-scale thermal-hydraulic tests, several model experiments and development of advanced numerical analysis codes are being carried out to confirm the cooling performance in tight-lattice fuel assembly of the RMWR. In this paper, outline of the research program is described as well as the latest results of critical power measurement in the large-scale thermal-hydraulic tests and model experiments, which simulates the tight-lattice core of the RMWR.
Takase, Kazuyuki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Ose, Yasuo*; Akimoto, Hajime
WIT Transactions on Engineering Sciences, Vol.50, p.183 - 192, 2005/00
no abstracts in English
Ando, Masaki; Nakano, Yoshihiro; Okajima, Shigeaki; Kawasaki, Kenji
JAERI-Research 2003-029, 72 Pages, 2003/12
The objectives of this study is to clarify calculation accuracy for the Doppler effect of the resonance materials; erbium (Er), tungsten (W) and thorium (ThO). Doppler effect measurements were carried out in a fast neutron spectrum (XX-2 core) and in an intermediate neutron spectrum (XXI-1D2 core) by the sample-heated and reactivity worth measurement method up to 800C using FCA. The experiment was analyzed with the standard analysis method for fast reactor cores at FCA with the use of the JENDL-3.2. The SRAC system was also used to investigate the calculation accuracy of the system and to compare it with that of the FCA standard analysis method. The standard analysis method underestimated for the XX-2 core and agreed the experiments within the experimental errors for the XXI-1D2 core. The analysis with the SRAC system gave smaller values by 3%10% for the Er sample and bigger values by 2%5% for the W sample than the standard analysis method.
Okuno, Hiroshi
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 40(7), p.544 - 551, 2003/07
Times Cited Count:0 Percentile:0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)A method for classifying benchmark results of criticality calculations according to similarity was proposed in this paper. After formulation of the method utilizing correlation coefficients, it was applied to burnup credit criticality benchmarks Phase III-A and II-A, which were conducted by the Expert Group on Burnup Credit Criticality Safety under auspices of the OECD/NEA. Phase III-A benchmark was a series of criticality calculations for irradiated BWR fuel assemblies, whereas Phase II-A benchmark was a suite of criticality calculations for irradiated PWR fuel pins. These benchmark problems and their results were summarized. The correlation coefficients were calculated and sets of benchmark results were classified according to the criterion that the correlation coefficients were no less than 0.15 for Phase III-A and 0.10 for Phase II-A benchmarks. When a couple of results were in a same group, one result was found predictable from the other. An example was shown for each of the Benchmarks. The evaluated nuclear data seemed the main factor of errors.