0000000000682012
AUTHOR
F. Mascari
TRACE and RELAP5 Codes for Beyond Design Accident Condition Simulation in the SPES3 Facility
Code validation on qualified experimental data is a fundamental issue in the design and safety analyses of nuclear power plants. The SPES3 facility is being built at the SIET laboratories for an integral type SMR simulation, in the frame of an R&D program on nuclear fission, funded by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and led by ENEA. The facility, based on the IRIS reactor design, reproduces the primary, secondary and containment systems with 1:100 volume scale, full elevation and prototypical fluid and thermal-hydraulic conditions. It is suitable to test the plant response to design and beyond design accidents in order to verify the effectiveness of the primary and containm…
Analyses of the OSU-MASLWR Experimental Test Facility
Today, considering the sustainability of the nuclear technology in the energy mix policy of developing and developed countries, the international community starts the development of new advanced reactor designs. In this framework, Oregon State University (OSU) has constructed, a system level test facility to examine natural circulation phenomena of importance to multi-application small light water reactor (MASLWR) design, a small modular pressurized water reactor (PWR), relying on natural circulation during both steady-state and transient operation. The target of this paper is to give a review of the main characteristics of the experimental facility, to analyse the main phenomena characteri…
Analysis of Primary/Containment Coupling Phenomena Characterizing the MASLWR Design During a SBLOCA Scenario
Today considering the world energy demand increase, the use of advanced nuclear power plants, have an important role in the environment and economic sustainability of country energy strategy mix considering the capacity of nuclear reactors of producing energy in safe and stable way contributing in cutting the CO2 emission (Bertel & Morrison, 2001; World Energy Outlook-Executive Summary, 2009; Wolde-Rufael & Menyah, 2010; Mascari et al., 2011d). According to the information’s provided by the “Power Reactor Information System” of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), today 433 nuclear power reactors are in operation in the world providing a total power installed capacity of 366.610 G…
Analysis of a Station Black-Out transient in SMR by using the TRACE and RELAP5 code
The present paper deals with the investigation of the evolution and consequences of a Station Black-Out (SBO) initiating event transient in the SPES3 facility [1]. This facility is an integral simulator of a small modular reactor being built at the SIET laboratories, in the framework of the R&D program on nuclear fission funded by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and led by ENEA. The SBO transient will be simulated by using the RELAP5 and TRACE nodalizations of the SPES3 facility. Moreover, the analysis will contribute to study the differences on the code predictions considering the different modelling approach with one and/or three-dimensional components and to compare the capa…
TRACE Code Analyses for the IAEA ICSP on “Integral PWR Design Natural Circulation Flow Stability and Thermo-Hydraulic Coupling of Containment and Primary System During Accidents”
Considering the world energy demand increase in order to fulfill an environmental and economic sustainability, the energy policy of each country has to diversify the sources of energy and use stable, safe energy production option able of producing electricity in a clean way contributing in cutting the CO2 emission. In the framework of the sustainable development, today the use of advanced nuclear power plant, have an important role in the environmental and economic sustainability of country energy strategy. In the last 20 years, in fact, the international community, taking into account the operational experience of the nuclear reactors, starts the development of new advanced reactor designs…
Sensitivity Analysis of the MASLWR Helical Coil Steam Generator Using TRACE
Accurate simulation of transient system behavior of a nuclear power plant is the goal of systems code calculations, and the evaluation of a code's calculation accuracy is accomplished by assessment and validation against appropriate system data. These system data may be developed either from a running system prototype or from a scaled model test facility, and characterize the thermal hydraulic phenomena during both steady state and transient conditions. The identification and characterization of the relevant thermal hydraulic phenomena, and the assessment and validation of thermal hydraulic systems codes, has been the objective of multiple international research programs. The validation and…
Analyses of the TRACE V5 capability for the simulation of natural circulation and primary/containment coupling in BDBA condition typical of the MASLWR
In the short term period the use of advanced Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is one of the most promising options for the deployment of nuclear technology. The validation and assessment of the best estimate thermal hydraulic system code TRACE against SMR thermal hydraulic phenomena is a novel effort. In this framework the use of the natural circulation database developed at the OSU-MASLWR test facility, simulating the MASLWR reactor prototype, is of interest for analyses of the TRACE code capability in predicting natural circulation and primary/containment coupled behavior in SMR. The target of this paper is to analyze the TRACE V5 capability for the simulation of natural circulation phenomena,…