An Assessment of Fission Product Scrubbing in Sodium Pools Following a Core Damage Event in a Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor

Conference · Mon Jun 26 04:00:00 EDT 2017

OSTI ID:1389837

Bucknor, M.; Farmer, M.; Grabaskas, D.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stated that mechanistic source term (MST) calculations are expected to be required as part of the advanced reactor licensing process. A recent study by Argonne National Laboratory has concluded that fission product scrubbing in sodium pools is an important aspect of an MST calculation for a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). To model the phenomena associated with sodium pool scrubbing, a computational tool, developed as part of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) program, was utilized in an MST trial calculation. This tool was developed by applying classical theories of aerosol scrubbing to the decontamination of gases produced as a result of postulated fuel pin failures during an SFR accident scenario. The model currently considers aerosol capture by Brownian diffusion, inertial deposition, and gravitational sedimentation. The effects of sodium vapour condensation on aerosol scrubbing are also treated. This paper provides details of the individual scrubbing mechanisms utilized in the IFR code as well as results from a trial mechanistic source term assessment led by Argonne National Laboratory in 2016.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1389837
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Fission Product Scrubbing
Safety Analysis
Sodium Fast Reactor
Source Term