Assessment of the consequences of boiling in the radial blanket due to hypothetical major pipe leaks

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:7211731

Prasad, K N; Tilbrook, R W

The orificing arrangement in CRBRP permits the possibility of limited boiling in the radial blanket for certain hypothetical transients that would not result in boiling in the core. Limited boiling in the radial blanket may result in acceptable consequences because of the steep power and temperature profiles which offer a high potential for condensation of the limited amount of vapor formed. The analysis presented indicates that the coolant in the highest power radial blanket assemblies may exceed saturation temperature in no more than six subchannels for a hypothetical major leak, even applying hot channel factors to all pins. The void thus formed is unlikely to expand across the cross section of the assembly because cooler sodium and pins in the vicinity could act as temporary heat sinks and cause the vapor to condense. The void is likely to collapse before dryout occurs. Even if dryout is postulated, melting of the clad could only occur on a long time scale compared to expected flow recovery times.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Electric Corp., Madison, PA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-15-2395
• OSTI ID: 7211731
• Report Number(s): CONF-770611-15
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210500 -- Power Reactors
Breeding
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ACCIDENTS
BOILING
BREEDER REACTORS
BREEDING BLANKETS
CLINCH RIVER BREEDER REACTOR
DRYOUT
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
LOSS OF COOLANT
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POWER REACTORS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
SODIUM COOLED REACTORS