Analysis of the Core Exit Temperature and the Peak Cladding Temperature During a SBLOCA: Application to a Scaled-Up Model

Abstract

During loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs), operators may start accident management (AM) actions when the core exit temperature (CET) measured by thermocouples exceeds a certain value. However, a significant time delay and temperature discrepancy in the superheat detection were observed in several facilities. This work is focused on clarifying CET thermocouple responses versus peak cladding temperature (PCT) and studying if the same physical phenomena are reproduced in two TRACE5 models with different geometry (a large-scale test facility (LSTF) and a scaled-up LSTF) during a pressure vessel (PV) upper head small break LOCA (SBLOCA). Results obtained show that the delay between the core uncover and the CET excursion is reproduced in both cases.