CIRCE-ICE PLOHS experimental campaign

Abstract

In the framework of the Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) - GEN IV Nuclear reactor development one of the main tasks deals with the thermalhydraulics analysis of Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) cooled fast reactors (attention mainly focused on LBE and Lead-cooled reactors), aimed at their safety analysis in response to a hypothetical accidental scenario. To support this task, the experimental campaign on the CIRCE-ICE configuration (funded by the EU project SESAME WP3) was developed and accomplished at the ENEA Brasimone Nuclear laboratory. The dataset produced represents a database for thermal hydraulic design of components for future HLM Fast Reactors. The CIRCulation Eutectic (CIRCE) is a pool type experimental facility working with Lead Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) as coolant (total inventory up to 90 tons). Inside the CIRCE vessel, the test section named Integral Circulation Experiments (ICE) was hosted and operated in order to investigate thermal hydraulic phenomena occurring during abnormal conditions (Protected Loss Of Heat Sink with Loss Of Flow Accident (PLOHS + LOFA)). This document describes the achieved experimental results of the proposed experimental campaign for the full power steady state condition (normal operation conditions) and for the transient phase (transition to decay heat removal conditions). Experimental data relating to thermal hydraulic phenomena such as the modification of the thermal stratification in “pool type” configuration, coolant mass flow rate modification in the test section occurring during the simulation of the designed accidental conditions and the capability to cool the 37-pins fuel bundle under natural circulation conditions are here reported and described.