High-fidelity models for the online control of power ramps in fuel displacement systems – Revisiting the ISABELLE experiment in the OSIRIS Material Testing Reactor

Abstract

The Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) is an MTR under construction at the CEA Cadarache, France. Its design and future operation build upon the lessons learned from the OSIRIS MTR. The CEA intends to transfer the knowledge accumulated with the ISABELLE1 loop of OSIRIS to the ADELINE loop of the JHR, both dedicated to power-ramp-type irradiation experiments, the purpose of which is to test the resistance of PWR fuel rod cladding under extreme levels of stress. In this article, we revisit the ETALISA experiment, a heat balance measurement experiment performed in 1992 for calibrating power ramps in ISABELLE1. We use high-fidelity modelling and simulation tools, especially the neutron-gamma TRIPOLI-4® Monte Carlo transport code, to calculate the detailed components of the heat balance, correction terms, and uncertainties. Comparisons between the simulations and the experiments show a very good agreement in the total linear heat generation rate of 400 W/cm at high power. The computed 2σ uncertainty is found to be 5%, a value essentially identical to the estimate derived in 1993 from an engineering approach. The use of modern simulation tools does not make it possible to improve upon this value, but provides a better understanding of the various components and corrections introduced in the total heat balance. The main limitations come from the ISABELLE1 online instrumentation, thermocouples and self-power neutron detectors, which set a limit on our very knowledge of the actual power ramp experimental conditions.