Babcock and Wilcox revisions to CONTEMPT, computer program for predicting containment pressure-temperature response to a loss-of-coolant accident. [PWR]

Technical Report · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1976

OSTI ID:7240753

Hsii, Y H

The CONTEMPT computer program predicts the pressure-temperature response of a single-volume reactor building to a loss-of-coolant accident. The report describes the analytical model used for the program. CONTEMPT assumes that the loss-of-coolant accident can be separated into two phases; the primary system blowdown and reactor building pressurization. The results of the blowdown analysis serve as the boundary conditions and are input to the CONTEMPT program. Thus, the containment model is only concerned with the pressure and temperature in the reactor building and the temperature distribution through the reactor building structures. The user is required to input the description of the discharge of coolant, the boiling of residual water by reactor decay heat, the superheating of steam passing through the core, and metal-water reactions. The reactor building is separated into liquid and vapor regions. Each region is in thermal equilibrium itself, but the two may not be in thermal equilibrium; the liquid and gaseous regions may have different temperatures. The reactor building is represented as consisting of several heat-conducting structures whose thermal behavior can be described by the one-dimensional multi-region heat conduction equation. The program also calculates building leakage and the effects of engineered safety features such as reactor building sprays, decay heat coolers, sump coolers, etc.

• Research Organization: Babcock and Wilcox Co., Lynchburg, Va. (USA). Nuclear Power Generation Div.
• OSTI ID: 7240753
• Report Number(s): BAW-10095(Rev.1); TRN: 77-003424
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
CONTAINMENT BUILDINGS
STRESSES
LOSS OF COOLANT
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
C CODES
COMPUTER CODES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
TRANSIENTS
ACCIDENTS
CONTAINMENT
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
210200 - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled