中国铅基研究堆非能动余热排出系统可靠性分析

铅冷快堆是第四代核能系统推荐堆型之一,世界上多个铅冷快堆采用非能动余热排出系统。非能动系统中作为驱动的自然力与阻力在数量级上接近,由周边环境、材料参数的变化引起的波动不可忽略,因此需要研究非能动系统可靠性。改进了常用的响应面分析法,并应用于中国铅基研究堆反应堆容器空气冷却系统(Reactor Vessel Air Cooling System,RVACS)中。分析中使用流体计算软件Fluent模拟中国铅基研究堆RVACS系统的余热排出过程,研究了输入参数的不确定性对系统可靠性及反应堆安全产生的影响。在大量模拟数据的基础上结合神经网络法建立了输入参数不确定性和结果不确定性之间的映射关系,并以此分析RVACS非能动失效概率。分析结果表明在全厂断电的情况下,RVACS四组并联排热管中的两组也能够可靠地导出反应堆余热。     

基于响应面拟合方法中国铅基研究实验堆非能动余热排出系统可靠性分析

非能动系统已广泛地应用于新一代堆的设计中,其可靠性分析成为新型反应堆概率安全评价(Probabilistic Safety Analysis,PSA)的重要内容。本文提出一种用于非能动系统可靠性分析的响应面拟合方法,并应用于中国铅基研究实验堆反应堆容器空气冷却系统(Reactor Vessel Air Cooling System,RVACS)的可靠性分析。采用流体计算软件Fluent模拟RVACS系统的输入输出作为求解响应面性能函数的输入样本,利用最小二乘法和bootstrap方法估计响应面性能函数的系数,以响应面模型代替Fluent模型分析RVACS系统的非能动失效概率。分析表明,在所有能动余热排除系统不可用的情况下,RVACS四组并联排热管中的两组也能够可靠地导出反应堆余热。RVACS系统可靠性高。     

Reliability analysis of safety grade decay heat removal system of Indian prototype fast breeder reactor

The 500 MW Indian pool type Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), is provided with two independent and diverse Decay Heat Removal (DHR) systems viz., Operating Grade Decay Heat Removal System (OGDHRS) and Safety Grade Decay Heat Removal System (SGDHRS). OGDHRS utilizes the secondary sodium loops and Steam–Water System with special decay heat removal condensers for DHR function. The unreliability of this system is of the order of 0.1–0.01. The safety requirements of the present generation of fast reactors are very high, and specifically for DHR function the failure frequency should be less than ∼1E-7/ry. Therefore, a passive SGDHR system using four completely independent thermo-siphon loops in natural convection mode is provided to ensure adequate core cooling for all Design Basis Events. The very high reliability requirement for DHR function is achieved mainly with the help of SGDHRS. This paper presents the reliability analysis of SGDHR system. Analysis is performed by Fault Tree method using ‘CRAFT’ software developed at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research. This software has special features for compact representation and CCF analysis of high redundancy safety systems encountered in nuclear reactors. Common Cause Failures (CCF) are evaluated by β factor method.     

Above-ground HTGR design for passive decay heat removal

The design of a small high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) for passive decay heat removal which could be located deeply underground was proposed previously. In the present work, analogue design analyses of passive decay heat removal for an above-ground long-life small prismatic HTGR was carried out to obtain the conditions for successful decay heat removal by radiation and conduction inside the reactor building, and by radiation and natural cooling by air at the outer surface of the reactor building. Sensitivity analysis of the peak temperatures of both the core and the reactor building after reactor shutdown was performed by changing the physical characteristics of the reactor regions. Enlarging the reactor building was found to be an effective way to reduce the peak reactor building temperature to within its design limit. By using the obtained condition for design parameters, the appropriate sizes of reactor core and reactor building were evaluated for some reactors. Consequently, criticality and burnup analyses for the proposed reactors were performed to confirm the possibility of designing a long-life core for the core size and reactor power which meet the condition of removing decay heat successfully. Using our design, all the reactors with 20 wt% uranium enrichment could be critical for over nine years.     

An experimental study on natural circulation decay heat removal system for a loop type fast reactor

A fully natural circulation-based system is adopted in the decay heat removal system (DHRS) of an advanced loop type fast reactor. Decay heat removal by natural circulation is a significant passive safety measure against station blackout. As a representative of the advanced loop type fast reactor, DHRS of the sodium fast reactor of 1500 MWe being designed in Japan comprises a direct reactor auxiliary cooling system (DRACS), which has a dipped heat exchanger in the reactor vessel, and two units of primary reactor auxiliary cooling system (PRACS), which has a heat exchanger in the primary-side inlet plenum of an intermediate heat exchanger in each loop. The thermal-hydraulic phenomena in the plant under natural circulation conditions need to be understood for establishing a reliable natural circulation driven DHRS. In this study, sodium experiments were conducted using a plant dynamic test loop to understand the thermal-hydraulic phenomena considering natural circulation in the plant under a broad range of plant operation conditions. The sodium experiments simulating the scram transient confirmed that PRACS started up smoothly under natural circulation, and the simulated core was stably cooled after the scram. Moreover, they were conducted by varying the pressure loss coefficients of the loop as the experimental parameters. These experiments confirmed robustness of the PRACS, which the increasing of pressure loss coefficient did not affect the heat removal capacity very much due to the feedback effect of natural circulation.     

IPWRs非能动余热排出系统运行特性分析

由于结构紧凑和采用模块化及非能动安全技术,一体化压水堆(IPWRs)特别适合于舰船核动力装置的应用。本文研究对象为基于固有安全一体化动力堆UZrHx和俄罗斯一体化压水堆ABV-6M的运行特点而概念设计的一体化压水堆。堆芯采用弧形板状燃料元件,直流蒸汽发生器形式为套管式,利用3个回路的自然循环排出堆芯余热的非能动余热排出系统以及一套能动的停堆冷却系统。运用RE-LAP5/MOD3.4程序对该反应堆在全船断电事故工况下反应堆停堆,非能动余热排出系统和能动停堆冷却系统分别投入运行进行仿真计算,分析其热工水力动态特性,保证堆芯安全。     

Possible design of PBR for passive decay heat removal

Conditions for design parameters of above-ground and underground, prismatic high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR)s for passive decay heat removal based on fundamental heat transfer mechanisms were obtained in the previous works. In the present study, analogous conditions were obtained for pebble bed reactors by performing the same procedure using the model for heat transfer in porous media of COMSOL 4.3a software, and the results were compared. For the power density profile, several approximated distributions together with original one throughout the 10-MWt high-temperature gas-cooled reactor-test module (HTR-10) were used, and it was found that an HTR-10 with a uniform power density profile has the higher safety margin than those with other profiles. In other words, the safety features of a PBR can be enhanced by flattening the power density profile. We also found that a prismatic HTGR with a uniform power density profile throughout the core has a greater safety margin than a PBR with the same design characteristics. However, when the power density profile is not flattened during the operation, the PBR with the linear power density profile has more safety margin than the prismatic HTGR with the same design parameters and with the power density profile by cosine and Bessel functions.     

Development of an evaluation methodology for the natural circulation decay heat removal system in a sodium cooled fast reactor

A natural circulation evaluation methodology has been developed to ensure the safety of a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) of 1500 MW adopting the natural circulation decay heat removal system (NC-DHRS). The methodology consists of a one-dimensional safety analysis which can evaluate the core hot spot temperature taking into account the temperature flattening effect in the core, a three-dimensional fluid flow analysis which can evaluate the thermal-hydraulics for local convections and thermal stratifications in the primary system and DHRS, and a statistical safety evaluation method for the hot spot temperature in the core. The safety analysis method and the three-dimensional analysis method have been validated using results of a 1/10 scaled water test simulating the primary system of the SFR and a sodium test simulating a part of the primary system and the DHRS with about a 1/7 scale, and the applicability of the safety analysis for the SFR has been confirmed by comparing with the three-dimensional analysis adopting the turbulence model. Finally, a statistical safety evaluation has been performed for the SFR using the safety analysis method.     

Heavy-gas injection in the Generation IV gas-cooled fast reactor for improved decay heat removal under depressurized conditions

Decay heat removal is a key safety and design issue for the Generation IV gas (helium)-cooled fast reactor. This paper investigates the natural convection capability of the dedicated DHR loops under depressurized conditions while injecting a heavy gas into the system. Investigated is a loss-of-coolant accident using the TRACE code. The goal of the study is to improve fuel/cladding temperature behavior during LOCA transients with the enhancement of passive safety by operation in natural convection only, while accepting 10 bar back-up pressure in the guard containment. The paper investigates the cooling capabilities of different heavy gases. Furthermore, different injection locations and mass flow rates have been tested, in order to address possible core-overcooling problems resulting from rapid depressurization of the gas reservoir. It has been shown that, among the gases investigated, CO₂ is the best choice from the thermal-hydraulics viewpoint, being able to cool the core satisfactorily for a broad range of injection rates. N₂ can be envisaged as an alternative solution in case of chemical problems with CO₂. Supplementary studies carried out for the CO₂ and N₂ injection cases include that of the sensitivity to the number of available DHR loops and to the LOCA break-size. The effect of the resulting neutron spectrum changes on the shutdown-reactivity margin has also been investigated.     

Core and fuel cycle for an advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor

The development of BN-1200 is based on the greatest possible use of tested and scientifically validated and developed technical solutions implemented in BN-350, -600, and the BN-800 design as well as new technical solutions that increase facility cost-effectiveness and safety. The BN-1200 design must permit the reactor to operate with different cores, including with denser fuel. The main fuel variant considered is oxide fuel and for the nearest term nitride fuel, for which the production technology involves the same steps as the oxide technology. The main approaches for choosing the parameters of the BN-1200 core as well as the results of computational studies are presented.     

多样化非能动衰变热排出方法研究

事故情况下的衰变热排出是涉及核安全的重要方面.采用非能动方法来排出衰变热对于提高核反应堆的安全性非常有益.在目前一些先进反应堆中通过设置非能动余热排出系统、非能动安注系统、非能动安全壳冷却系统等安全子系统,形成多样化的从堆芯到最终热阱的非能动衰变热排出渠道.论文对多种非能动衰变热排出方法和系统设计方案进行了归纳总结,比较分析了这些非能动衰变热排出方法的共性特征和区别,探讨了非能动衰变热排出系统的设计原理.通过对传热过程分解,将这些衰变热排出方法表达为一些基本传热形式的不同组合方式,根据不同的组合可获得多样化的非能动衰变热排出方法和新的系统设计方案.     

The influence of ocean conditions on thermal-hydraulic characteristics of a passive residual heat removal system

There are many differences between the flow and heat transfer characteristics of nuclear reactors under ocean and land-based conditions for the effects of ocean waves. In this paper, thermal hydraulic characteristics of a passive residual heat removal system (PRHRS) for an integrated pressurized water reactor (IPWR) in ocean environment were investigated theoretically. A series of reasonable theoretical models for a PRHRS in an IPWR were established. These models mainly include the core, once-through steam generator, nitrogen pressurizer, main coolant pump, flow and heat transfer and ocean motion models. The flow and heat transfer models are suitable for the core with plate-type fuel element and the once-through steam generator with annular channel, respectively. A transient analysis code in FORTRAN 90 format has been developed to analyze the thermal–hydraulic characteristics of the PRHRS under ocean conditions. The code was implemented to analyze the effects of different ocean motions on the transient thermal-hydraulic characteristics of PRHRS. It is found that the oscillating amplitudes and periods of the system parameters are determined by those of the ocean motions. The effect of rolling motion is more obvious than that of pitching motion when the amplitudes and periods of rolling and pitching motions are the same. The obtained analysis results are significant to the improvement design of the PRHRS and the safety operation of the IPWR.     

Theoretical and experimental thermal-hydraulic analysis of a new sodium cooled fast breeder reactor core

This paper presents the experimental and theoretical results of the thermal-hydraulic design of a new fast breeder reactor core concept. The main feature of this concept is the omission of fuel element cans.The hydraulic function of these fuel element cans is substituted by a winding flow path through the radial blanket and a ring chamber without tubes.A computer code based on the quasi-continuum-theory and especially adapted to the features of the new core concept is developed for theoretical investigations. The pressure drop of the rod bundles is specified by a resistance tensor.The experimental investigations are realized in a test facility, where sodium is simulated by water. Pressures and velocities are measured.Theoretical and experimental results show good agreement. The aim of flattening of the coolant outlet temperature distribution can be reached with satisfying accuracy.     

Sensitivity analysis of a passive decay heat removal system under a post-loss of coolant accident condition

Passive safety features are now of interest to the design of future generation reactors because of their peculiar characteristics of simplicity, reduction of human interaction, and avoidance of failures of active components. However, the large uncertainty associated with the responses of passive systems might not be ignored. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the uncertain inputs that have the important impact on the uncertainty of the system performance. In this study, two global sensitivity measures, the first-order sensitivity index and the total-order sensitivity index, are applied to a natural circulation decay heat removal system of a gas-cooled fast reactor for identifying the important system inputs. It is found that the uncertainty in the system pressure contributes the most to the uncertainty in the system outputs. In addition, the cooler (the heat exchanger of the emergency cooling system) wall temperature, the Nusselt number in the mixed convection regime, and the friction factor in the mixed convection flow regime also have small impact on the uncertainty of the system outputs.     

Development of a new decay heat removal system for a high temperature gas-cooled reactor

The heat removal capacity of a RCCS is one of the major parameters limiting the capacity of a HTGR based on a passive safety system. To improve the plant economy of a HTGR, the decay heat removal capacity needs to be improved. For this, a new analysis system of an algebraic method for the performance of various RCCS designs was set up and the heat transfer characteristics and performance of the designs were analyzed. Based on the analysis results, a new passive decay heat removal system with a substantially improved performance, LFDRS was developed. With the new system, one can have an expectation that the heat removal capacity of a HTGR could be doubled.     

Transient thermal-hydraulic analysis for reactor cores

A new computational method is presented for a transient, thermal-hydraulic, multichannel analysis. The method is developed based on the concept of artificial compressibility to preserve the elliptic character of the reactor core flow in order to satisfy the realistic pressure boundary conditions, and to account for the discontinuities of the emprical correlations simulating the flow resistances. The computer code (RETSAC) developed by implementing the method presented in this paper can be categorized as a fourth generation multichannel computer code. This new computer code has been compared with the widely used marching techniques, such as COBRA IIIC (the third generation). The numerical results clearly indicate the situations in which the marching technique may or may not be appropriate. Furthermore, the RETSAC computer code can calculate various normal or off-normal reactor core flows which the third generation codes could not handle without a substantial increase of computer time.     

Inservice inspection of the reactor block of sodium-cooled fast breeder reactors

By using sodium as coolant special boundary conditions result for the inservice inspection (ISI) of fast breeder reactors. For that reason in general it is not successful applying the methods and equipment proved for the 151 of light water reactors.This report presents inspection methods and equipment developed for the ISI of the reactor block of sodium cooled fast breeder reactors. The survey takes into account the state of the art as well as some R&D-work at home and abroad. Entering into particulars the methods and equipment used for leak monitoring, the inspection of the reactor vessel wall, the inspection' of reactor internals above and below the sodium level, monitoring of structure home noise and the measurement of the gap between the reactor vessel and the guard vessel are described.     

Investigation of alternative layouts for the supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle for a sodium-cooled fast reactor

Analyses of supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO₂) Brayton cycle performance have largely settled on the recompression supercritical cycle (or Feher cycle) incorporating a flow split between the main compressor downstream of heat rejection, a recompressing compressor providing direct compression without heat rejection, and high and low temperature recuperators to raise the effectiveness of recuperation and the cycle efficiency. Alternative cycle layouts have been previously examined by Angelino (Politecnico, Milan), by MIT (Dostal, Hejzlar, and Driscoll), and possibly others but not for sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) operating at relatively low core outlet temperature. Thus, the present authors could not be sure that the recompression cycle is an optimal arrangement for application to the SFR. To ensure that an advantageous alternative layout has not been overlooked, several alternative cycle layouts have been investigated for a S-CO₂ Brayton cycle coupled to the Advanced Burner Test Reactor (ABTR) SFR preconceptual design having a 510 °C core outlet temperature and a 470 °C turbine inlet temperature to determine if they provide any benefit in cycle performance (e.g., enhanced cycle efficiency). No such benefits were identified, consistent with the previous examinations, such that attention was devoted to optimizing the recompression supercritical cycle. The effects of optimizing the cycle minimum temperature and pressure are investigated including minimum temperatures and/or pressures below the critical values. It is found that improvements in the cycle efficiency of 1% or greater relative to previous analyses which arbitrarily fixed the minimum temperature and pressure can be realized through an optimal choice of the combination of the minimum cycle temperature and pressure (e.g., for a fixed minimum temperature there is an optimal minimum pressure). However, this leads to a requirement for a larger cooler for heat rejection which may impact the tradeoff between efficiency and capital cost. In addition, for minimum temperatures below the critical temperature, a lower heat sink temperature is required the availability of which is dependent upon the climate at the specific plant site.