Thermal-hydraulic characteristics analysis of unprotected accident and protection control strategy for helium-xenon cooled reactor system

Abstract

The small modular helium-xenon cooled reactor has the advantages of simple and compact system structure, short construction cycle, light weight and small volume, which is very suitable for energy supply in remote area and small nuclear propulsion device. The research on accident characteristics and protection control strategies is very important to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the reactor system and mitigate the consequences of the accident. Therefore, the safety characteristics analysis program of helium-xenon cooled reactor system is developed based on Modelica language, and the transient verification of typical working conditions is carried out. The maximum relative error of the verification results was 7.91 %. Through the program, the unprotected transient conditions and corresponding protection control strategy transient conditions of external load loss accident, partial loss of heat sink accident, main valve accidental closing accident and Brayton unit efficiency step decline accident are simulated. The results show that the loss of all external loads will lead to rotation speed overspeed. The introduction of negative reactivity or bypass control can effectively control the rotation speed rise, but the introduction of negative reactivity is better than bypass control. Under unprotected control, the partial loss of the heat sink, the accidental closing of the main valve and the step down of the Brayton unit efficiency will all lead to the rapid decline of the rotation speed and mass flow rate, and there is a risk of the reactor temperature exceeding the limit. The rotation speed and mass flow rate can be effectively stabilized by load following to prevent the temperature exceeding the limit.