4 - Role of thermal-hydraulics in nuclear power plants: Design and safety

Abstract

Key questions addressed in the chapter are: Why nuclear thermal-hydraulics is needed? What are the roots for the development of analytical capabilities? Who (or which institution) is expected to drive the progress? Needs in thermal-hydraulics arise from design and safety. In the area of design focus is given to creating nuclear systems and components which are robust and reliable, have a long and trouble-free lifetime, are efficient and economical to operate, do not tend to stray into unwanted transient scenarios and are easy to inspect and maintain. In the area of safety focus goes on ensuring the nuclear systems and components always operate with operational margins consistent with the “defense-in-depth” approach required by the regulatory agencies. Licensing is the key word for deriving needs challenging design and safety thermal-hydraulic analyses. The needs at the basis of the design of computational tools are discussed.