Study on dominant aspects of unprotected loss-of-flow to be evaluated in the initiating phase for a sodium-cooled fast reactor

Abstract

ABSTRACT SAS4A is presently the worldwide standard computer code for simulation of the initiating phase of the Core Disruptive Accident (CDA) in MOX-fueled Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFR). In order to improve the capability of the computational code, SAS4A, to be applied to the safety assessment for SFRs, detailed investigations of physical phenomena under unprotected loss-of-flow (ULOF) conditions were conducted, and physical models to be developed and improved were identified using the Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) method. A fuel stub motion, in which the residual fuel pellets would move to the core central region after fuel pin disruption, was selected as one of the key phenomena to be simulated properly and a key concept of the fuel stub motion model was presented.