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Characteristics of Axial Power Shape and Flow Field at Low Flow Condition

Journal Article · · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society
OSTI ID:23042916
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. KEPCO Nuclear Fuel, 242, Daedeok-daero 989beon-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34507 (Korea, Republic of)
The representative event which experiences the low flow condition is SLB (Steam Line Break) event. During the SLB event with LOOP (Loss of Offsite Power), the reactor core is tripped and all RCPs (Reactor Coolant Pump) are stopped. The biggest worth control rod also stuck out. As a result, the flow rate and pressure in reactor core decrease and the peaking factor is relatively high compared to a nominal operating condition. In this paper, we study the tendency of the core axial power distribution and flow field with respect to the core average power at the SLB accident condition. Generally, the condition has been analyzed using the neutronics code with one dimensional flow result of the assemblies. However, if the core average power increases, the coolant density in the hot channel decreases and mass flux increases. The assumption that the mass flux is constant at the one dimensional analysis is incorrect. Hence, it is needed to couple the neutronics code and the subchannel analysis code in order to give feedback to neutronics code with the 3-D flow information. In this study, we coupled the nuclear design code and the subchannel analysis code and showed the characteristics of the axial power distribution and the flow field at the low flow condition. Since there is no experimental data at the condition, the characteristics of the power distribution and flow field were analyzed to understand the physical phenomena. (authors)
OSTI ID:
23042916
Journal Information:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 115; ISSN 0003-018X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English