Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance code
In the framework of the Generation IV research and development project, in which the French Commission of Alternative and Atomic Energies (CEA) is involved, a main objective for the design of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is to meet the safety goals for severe accidents. Among the severe ones, th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Nuclear Engineering and Technology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573323005545 |
| _version_ | 1797271420231745536 |
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| author | Vincent Dupont Victor Blanc Thierry Beck Marc Lainet Pierre Sciora |
| author_facet | Vincent Dupont Victor Blanc Thierry Beck Marc Lainet Pierre Sciora |
| author_sort | Vincent Dupont |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the framework of the Generation IV research and development project, in which the French Commission of Alternative and Atomic Energies (CEA) is involved, a main objective for the design of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is to meet the safety goals for severe accidents. Among the severe ones, the Unprotected Transient OverPower (UTOP) accidents can lead very quickly to a global melting of the core. UTOP accidents can be considered either as slow during a Control Rod Withdrawal (CRW) or as fast. The paper focuses on fast UTOP accidents, which occur in a few milliseconds, and three different scenarios are considered: rupture of the core support plate, uncontrolled passage of a gas bubble inside the core and core mechanical distortion such as a core flowering/compaction during an earthquake. Several levels and rates of reactivity insertions are also considered and the thermal-mechanical behavior of an ASTRID fuel pin from the ASTRID CFV core is simulated with the GERMINAL code. Two types of fuel pins are simulated, inner and outer core pins, and three different burn-up are considered.Moreover, the feedback from the CABRI programs on these type of transients is used in order to evaluate the failure mechanism in terms of kinetics of energy injection and fuel melting. The CABRI experiments complete the analysis made with GERMINAL calculations and have shown that three dominant mechanisms can be considered as responsible for pin failure or onset of pin degradation during ULOF/UTOP accident: molten cavity pressure loading, fuel-cladding mechanical interaction (FCMI) and fuel break-up.The study is one of the first step in fast UTOP accidents modelling with GERMINAL and it has shown that the code can already succeed in modelling these type of scenarios up to the sodium boiling point. The modeling of the radial propagation of the melting front, validated by comparison with CABRI tests, is already very efficient. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:02:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d67245b112224cb6b4d17c643d515800 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1738-5733 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:02:27Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nuclear Engineering and Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d67245b112224cb6b4d17c643d5158002024-03-07T05:27:07ZengElsevierNuclear Engineering and Technology1738-57332024-03-01563973979Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance codeVincent Dupont0Victor Blanc1Thierry Beck2Marc Lainet3Pierre Sciora4CEA, DES, IRESNE, DEC, Cadarache, F-13108, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France; Corresponding author.CEA, DES, IRESNE, DEC, Cadarache, F-13108, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, FranceCEA, DES, IRESNE, DEC, Cadarache, F-13108, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, FranceCEA, DES, IRESNE, DEC, Cadarache, F-13108, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, FranceCEA, DES, IRESNE, DER, Cadarache, F-13108, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, FranceIn the framework of the Generation IV research and development project, in which the French Commission of Alternative and Atomic Energies (CEA) is involved, a main objective for the design of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is to meet the safety goals for severe accidents. Among the severe ones, the Unprotected Transient OverPower (UTOP) accidents can lead very quickly to a global melting of the core. UTOP accidents can be considered either as slow during a Control Rod Withdrawal (CRW) or as fast. The paper focuses on fast UTOP accidents, which occur in a few milliseconds, and three different scenarios are considered: rupture of the core support plate, uncontrolled passage of a gas bubble inside the core and core mechanical distortion such as a core flowering/compaction during an earthquake. Several levels and rates of reactivity insertions are also considered and the thermal-mechanical behavior of an ASTRID fuel pin from the ASTRID CFV core is simulated with the GERMINAL code. Two types of fuel pins are simulated, inner and outer core pins, and three different burn-up are considered.Moreover, the feedback from the CABRI programs on these type of transients is used in order to evaluate the failure mechanism in terms of kinetics of energy injection and fuel melting. The CABRI experiments complete the analysis made with GERMINAL calculations and have shown that three dominant mechanisms can be considered as responsible for pin failure or onset of pin degradation during ULOF/UTOP accident: molten cavity pressure loading, fuel-cladding mechanical interaction (FCMI) and fuel break-up.The study is one of the first step in fast UTOP accidents modelling with GERMINAL and it has shown that the code can already succeed in modelling these type of scenarios up to the sodium boiling point. The modeling of the radial propagation of the melting front, validated by comparison with CABRI tests, is already very efficient.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573323005545GERMINALUTOPCABRIFuel pinSFRThermal-Mechanical Behavior |
| spellingShingle | Vincent Dupont Victor Blanc Thierry Beck Marc Lainet Pierre Sciora Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance code Nuclear Engineering and Technology GERMINAL UTOP CABRI Fuel pin SFR Thermal-Mechanical Behavior |
| title | Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance code |
| title_full | Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance code |
| title_fullStr | Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance code |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance code |
| title_short | Analysis of the thermal-mechanical behavior of SFR fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the GERMINAL fuel performance code |
| title_sort | analysis of the thermal mechanical behavior of sfr fuel pins during fast unprotected transient overpower accidents using the germinal fuel performance code |
| topic | GERMINAL UTOP CABRI Fuel pin SFR Thermal-Mechanical Behavior |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573323005545 |
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