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Title: Simultion of midloop operation of the BETHSY test facility using the RELAP5/MOD3.2 computer program

Journal Article · · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society
OSTI ID:555388
;  [1]
  1. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

The objective of the present study was to simulate International Standard Problem 38 (ISP 38), conducted at the BETHSY test facility in Grenoble, France, using the RELAP5/MOD3.2 thermal-hydraulic code. The ISP 38 test involved the loss of the residual heat removal system (RHR) during a midloop operation with manways open in the pressurizer and the steam generator. The data from the test were used to benchmark thermal-hydraulic codes for low-pressure and low-flow situations. The RELAP5/MOD3.2 code performed reasonably well in predicting overall trends and their timing but did not accurately predict specific thermal-hydraulic phenomena. Specifically, the water holdup cycles in the pressurizer and entrainment phenomena in the upper-head bypass were not predicted accurately. The consequence of poor performance in predicting pressurizer surgeline phenomena was a substantial delay in the falloff of the initial system integrated mass flow rate and the emptying of the hot leg and the upper plenum.

OSTI ID:
555388
Report Number(s):
CONF-971125-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 98:001834
Journal Information:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 77; Conference: 1997 American Nuclear Society (ANS) winter meeting, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 16-20 Nov 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English