Unmitigated Boron Dilution Events in a PWR. [During Shutdown]

Conference · Tue Jan 11 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6977624

Henninger, R. J. ^[1]; Woodruff, S. B. ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Dissolved boron is required for control of reactivity in a pressurized water reactor that is shut down. TRAC-PF1 calculations for a typical PWR for vessel-closed and vessel-open configurations show that a high-power excursion (approaching 20% of nominal operating power) is possible if dilution of the boron solution occurs. The calculations also show that sufficient heat capacity exists in the primary system to prevent a large temperature increase and that natural circulation flow of high concentration boron solution from the primary system into the core region will terminate the excursion.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP); US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6977624
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--82-1716; CONF-830103-11; ON: DE82018455
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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