Transient Thermal Response of the Pb-AHTR to Loss of Forced Cooling

Conference · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:20979643

Griveau, A; Fardin, F; Peterson, P F ^[1]; Zhao, H ^[2]

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1. Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1730 (United States)
2. Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3890 (United States)

In liquid-salt cooled high temperature reactors, such as the Pebble Bed Advanced High Temperature Reactor (PB-AHTR), natural circulation of the liquid salt provides the primary decay heat removal mechanism during transients such as the loss of forced cooling (LOFC) transient. Because this natural circulation is highly effective, for LOFC the temperature differences across the core of the PB-AHTR are much lower than in modular helium reactors (MHR), where decay heat removal occurs primarily by thermal radiation and conduction. This allows the PB-AHTR to operate with much higher power density than a comparable MHR, which in turn provides the potential for attractive economics. This paper reports RELAP5-3D simulations for the PB-AHTR that verify its excellent response to LOFC transients. (authors)

• Research Organization: American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 20979643
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
AFTER-HEAT REMOVAL
COOLING
ECONOMICS
LIQUIDS
LOSSES
NATURAL CONVECTION
PEBBLE BED REACTORS
POWER DENSITY
SALTS
SIMULATION
THERMAL RADIATION
TRANSIENTS