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Title: Thermal-hydraulic impact of failure of highly irradiated fuel pins on LMR passive safety

Abstract

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) SHRT-45 loss-of-primary-flow-without-scram test and SHRT 302 unprotected loss-of-heat-sink test have demonstrated that liquid-metal reactors can be built with a high degree of passive safety. No fuel pins failed in these tests; but if the burnup of the fuel were pushed further, one would face the question of what could be the impact of pin failures and rapid release of plenum gas in such a transient. Also, there are questions about the impact of an unprotected rapid release of plenum gas following the failure of highly irradiated fuel during normal operation. The concerns are mainly in two areas. One area is a structural question relating to possible deformation or breaking of subassembly duct walls because of the high pressure pulse following the sudden failure of a pin. The other area of concern, and the one addressed here, is whether the release of gas from failed pins could interfere with the coolant flow enough to cause melting of the fuel, possibly leading to blockage of the coolant channels. To address this question, the coolant voiding model in the SASSYS-1 code was modified to account for voiding due to gas release from failed pins. This model wasmore » used to analyze both unprotected pin failures during normal operation and pin failures during a SHRT-45-type unprotected loss-of-flow (LOF) transient.« less

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
5822172
Report Number(s):
CONF-901101-
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-018X; CODEN: TANSA
Resource Type:
Conference
Journal Name:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 62; Conference: American Nuclear Society (ANS) winter meeting, Washington, DC (USA), 11-15 Nov 1990; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-018X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; 21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS; EBR-2 REACTOR; REACTOR SAFETY EXPERIMENTS; FUEL CHANNELS; HEAT TRANSFER; HYDRAULICS; LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS; FUEL ELEMENT FAILURE; REACTOR SAFETY; BUBBLES; BURNUP; DAMAGE; FISSION PRODUCT RELEASE; FUEL PINS; HEAT SINKS; IRRADIATION; LOSS OF FLOW; ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS; PASSIVITY; PRIMARY COOLANT CIRCUITS; PUMPS; REACTOR CORES; REACTOR OPERATION; S CODES; TRANSIENTS; TWO-PHASE FLOW; VOID FRACTION; ACCIDENTS; BREEDER REACTORS; COMPUTER CODES; COOLING SYSTEMS; ENERGY SYSTEMS; ENERGY TRANSFER; EPITHERMAL REACTORS; EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS; FAST REACTORS; FBR TYPE REACTORS; FLUID FLOW; FLUID MECHANICS; FUEL ELEMENTS; LMFBR TYPE REACTORS; MECHANICS; OPERATION; POWER REACTORS; REACTOR ACCIDENTS; REACTOR CHANNELS; REACTOR COMPONENTS; REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS; REACTORS; RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS; SAFETY; SINKS; SODIUM COOLED REACTORS; 220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety; 210500 - Power Reactors, Breeding; 220700 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Plutonium & Isotope Production Reactors

Citation Formats

Dunn, F E, and Herzog, J P. Thermal-hydraulic impact of failure of highly irradiated fuel pins on LMR passive safety. United States: N. p., 1990. Web.
Dunn, F E, & Herzog, J P. Thermal-hydraulic impact of failure of highly irradiated fuel pins on LMR passive safety. United States.
Dunn, F E, and Herzog, J P. 1990. "Thermal-hydraulic impact of failure of highly irradiated fuel pins on LMR passive safety". United States.
@article{osti_5822172,
title = {Thermal-hydraulic impact of failure of highly irradiated fuel pins on LMR passive safety},
author = {Dunn, F E and Herzog, J P},
abstractNote = {The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) SHRT-45 loss-of-primary-flow-without-scram test and SHRT 302 unprotected loss-of-heat-sink test have demonstrated that liquid-metal reactors can be built with a high degree of passive safety. No fuel pins failed in these tests; but if the burnup of the fuel were pushed further, one would face the question of what could be the impact of pin failures and rapid release of plenum gas in such a transient. Also, there are questions about the impact of an unprotected rapid release of plenum gas following the failure of highly irradiated fuel during normal operation. The concerns are mainly in two areas. One area is a structural question relating to possible deformation or breaking of subassembly duct walls because of the high pressure pulse following the sudden failure of a pin. The other area of concern, and the one addressed here, is whether the release of gas from failed pins could interfere with the coolant flow enough to cause melting of the fuel, possibly leading to blockage of the coolant channels. To address this question, the coolant voiding model in the SASSYS-1 code was modified to account for voiding due to gas release from failed pins. This model was used to analyze both unprotected pin failures during normal operation and pin failures during a SHRT-45-type unprotected loss-of-flow (LOF) transient.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5822172}, journal = {Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)},
issn = {0003-018X},
number = ,
volume = 62,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990},
month = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990}
}

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