Evaluation of EBR-II driver-fuel elements following an unprotected station blackout accident
One of the current design objectives for a liquid metal reactor (LMR) is the inherent shutdown-cooling capability of the reactor, such that the reactor itself can safely reduce power following a total loss of pump power without activating the reactor shutdown system (RSS). Following a loss-of-flow (LOF) accident and a failure of RSS, in EBR-II, reactor core damage and plant restartability is of considerable interest. In the LOF event, high temperature in the reactor causes negative reactivity feedback that reduces reactor power. After an accident, reactor fuel performance is one of the factors used to assess the restartability of the plant. A thermal-hydraulic-neutronic analysis was performed to determine the response of the plant and the temperature of individual subassemblies. These temperatures were then used to assess the damage to driver fuel elements caused by the station blackout accident. The maximum depth of cladding wastage from molten eutectic at temperatures >715/sup 0/C was found to be 0.0053 mm for the hottest subassembly; this value is considerably less than the 0.28 mm cladding thickness. 12 refs.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 6143275
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-860414-1; ON: DE86006453
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. power plant dynamics, control and testing symposium, Knoxville, TN, USA, 14 Apr 1986
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Effect of primary pump coastdown on unprotected loss-of-flow transients in EBR-II
Validation of the HOTCHAN code for analyzing the EBR-II driver following loss of flow without scram
Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
EBR-2 REACTOR
FUEL ELEMENTS
LOSS OF FLOW
DESIGN
EVALUATION
FUEL CANS
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDRAULICS
RISK ASSESSMENT
ACCIDENTS
BREEDER REACTORS
ENERGY TRANSFER
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
FLUID MECHANICS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
MECHANICS
POWER REACTORS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SODIUM COOLED REACTORS
220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
210500 - Power Reactors
Breeding
220600 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors