Forced-to-natural convection transition tests in parallel simulated liquid metal reactor fuel assemblies

Conference · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6818542

Levin, A E ^[1]; Montgomery, B H ^[2]

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1. Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta, GA (USA)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)

The Thermal-Hydraulic Out of Reactor Safety (THORS) Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) had as its objective the testing of simulated, electrically heated liquid metal reactor (LMR) fuel assemblies in an engineering-scale, sodium loop. Between 1971 and 1985, the THORS Program operated 11 simulated fuel bundles in conditions covering a wide range of normal and off-normal conditions. The last test series in the Program, THORS-SHRS Assembly 1, employed two parallel, 19-pin, full-length, simulated fuel assemblies of a design consistent with the large LMR (Large Scale Prototype Breeder -- LSPB) under development at that time. These bundles were installed in the THORS Facility, allowing single- and parallel-bundle testing in thermal-hydraulic conditions up to and including sodium boiling and dryout. As the name SHRS (Shutdown Heat Removal System) implies, a major objective of the program was testing under conditions expected during low-power reactor operation, including low-flow forced convection, natural convection, and forced-to-natural convection transition at various powers. The THORS-SHRS Assembly 1 experimental program was divided up into four phases. Phase 1 included preliminary and shakedown tests, including the collection of baseline steady-state thermal-hydraulic data. Phase 2 comprised natural convection testing. Forced convection testing was conducted in Phase 3. The final phase of testing included forced-to-natural convection transition tests. Phases 1, 2, and 3 have been discussed in previous papers. The fourth phase is described in this paper. 3 refs., 2 figs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/NE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6818542
• Report Number(s): CONF-900804-1; ON: DE90004929; TRN: 90-020001
• Resource Relation: Conference: International topical meeting on fast reactor safety, Snowbird, UT (USA), 12-16 Aug 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
FUEL ASSEMBLIES
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
DATA ACQUISITION
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
DESIGN
FORCED CONVECTION
HEAT TRANSFER
MEASURING METHODS
MONITORING
NATURAL CONVECTION
PERFORMANCE TESTING
POWER GENERATION
REACTOR INSTRUMENTATION
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTOR SHUTDOWN
STABILITY
THERMODYNAMICS
TRANSIENTS
BREEDER REACTORS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
CONVECTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
MASS TRANSFER
REACTORS
SAFETY
SHUTDOWNS
TESTING
210500* - Power Reactors
Breeding
220300 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Fuel Elements
220900 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety