Research on Thermal-Hydraulic Model and Characteristics of Lead Cooled Traveling Wave Reactor

Abstract

AbstractTraveling wave reactor (TWR) is an advanced nuclear power system, which can keep the total amount of fissionable nuclides constant during its lifetime through the transformation of fissionable nuclides in the reactor, so as to maintain the stability of the effective proliferation factor of the reactor core. As a coolant, lead has low neutron moderation ability and capture cross section. At the same time, it also has excellent thermal characteristics. Lead cooled traveling wave reactor is a reactor with high inherent safety and good application prospects. The research on reactor core mainly focuses on the physical calculation of the reactor, and the analysis of its thermal hydraulic model and characteristics is relatively scarce, which limits the design and safety analysis of the advanced reactor. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the thermal hydraulic model of lead cooled traveling wave reactor. In this paper, a thermal hydraulic model suitable for the core of lead cooled traveling wave reactor is proposed. Considering the axial particularity of heat release from the core of traveling wave reactor, the model considers the axial thermal conductivity of fuel rods ignored by other thermal hydraulic models. Due to the strong thermal conductivity of core coolant, the thermal model also considers the heat transfer of fuel assemblies and the flow distribution of core flow. The research shows that the thermal hydraulic model is suitable for the analysis of thermal hydraulic characteristics of lead cooled traveling wave reactor, the thermal hydraulic characteristics are studied by using the thermal hydraulic model.