Iwao Ohtsu

RELAP5/MOD3 Code Verification Through PWR Pressure Vessel Small Break LOCA Tests in OECD/NEA ROSA Project

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) started OECD/NEA ROSA Project in 2005 to resolve issues in the thermal-hydraulic analyses relevant to LWR safety through the experiments of ROSA/LSTF in JAEA. More than 17 organizations from 14 NEA member countries have joined the Project. The ROSA Project intends to focus on the validation of simulation models and methods for complex phenomena that may occur during DBEs and beyond-DBE transients. Twelve experiments are to be conducted in the six types. By utilizing the obtained data, the predictability of codes is validated. Nine experiments have been performed so far in the ROSA Project to date. The results of two out of these experiments; PV top and bottom small-break (SB) LOCA simulations are studied here, through comparisons with the results from pre-test and post-test analyses by using the RELAP5/MOD3.2 code as a typical and well-utilized/improved best estimate (BE) code. The experimental conditions were defined based on the pre-test (blind) analysis. The comparison with the experiment results may clearly indicate a state of the art of the code to deal with relevant reactor accidents. The code predictive capability was verified further through the post-test analysis. The obtained issues in the utilization of the RELAP5 code are summarized as well as the outline of the ROSA Project.Copyright

ROSA/LSTF Tests and Posttest Analyses by RELAP5 Code for Accident Management Measures during PWR Station Blackout Transient with Loss of Primary Coolant and Gas Inflow

Three tests were carried out with the ROSA/LSTF (rig of safety assessment/large-scale test facility), which simulated accident management (AM) measures during station blackout transient with loss of primary coolant under assumptions of nitrogen gas inflow and total failure of high-pressure injection system in a pressurized water reactor. As the AM measures, steam generator (SG) secondary-side depressurization was done by fully opening the relief valves in both SGs, and auxiliary feedwater was injected into the secondary-side of both SGs simultaneously. Conditions for the break size and the onset timing of the AM measures were different among the three LSTF tests. In the three LSTF tests, the primary pressure decreased to a certain low pressure of below 1 MPa with or without the primary depressurization by fully opening the relief valve in a pressurizer as an optional AM measure, while no core uncovery took place through the whole transient. Nonuniform flow behaviors were observed in the SG U-tubes under natural circulation (NC) with nitrogen gas depending probably on the gas accumulation rate in the two LSTF tests that the gas accumulated remarkably. The RELAP5/MOD3.3 code predicted most of the overall trends of the major thermal hydraulic responses observed in the three LSTF tests. The code, however, indicated remaining problems in the predictions of the primary pressure, the SG U-tube collapsed liquid levels, and the NC mass flow rate after the nitrogen gas ingress as well as the accumulator flow rate through the analyses for the two LSTF tests, where the remarkable gas accumulation occurred.

ROSA/LSTF Experiment on a PWR Station Blackout Transient With AM Measures and RELAP5 Post-Test Analysis

An experiment on a PWR station blackout transient with the TMLB’ scenario and accident management (AM) measures was conducted using the ROSA/large scale test facility (LSTF) at Japan Atomic Energy Agency under an assumption of non-condensable gas inflow to the primary system from accumulator (ACC) tanks. The AM measures proposed in this study are steam generator (SG) secondary-side depressurization by fully opening the safety valves in both SGs with the start of core uncovery and coolant injection into the secondary-side of both SGs at low pressures. The LSTF test revealed the primary pressure started to decrease when the SG primary-to-secondary heat removal resumed soon after the coolant injection into the SG secondary-side. The primary depressurization worsened due to the gas accumulation in the SG U-tubes after the completion of ACC coolant injection. The RELAP5 code predicted well the overall trend of the major phenomena observed in the LSTF test, and indicated remaining problems in the predictions of SG U-tube collapsed liquid level and primary mass flow rate after the gas ingress. The SG coolant injection flow rate was found to affect significantly the peak cladding temperature and the ACC actuation time through the RELAP5 sensitivity analyses.Copyright

OECD/NEA ROSA Project Experiment on Steam Condensation in PWR Horizontal Legs during Large-Break LOCA

Separate-effect experiment simulating steam condensation on emergency core cooling system (ECCS) water in PWR cold legs during reflood phase of large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LBLOCA) was conducted in OECD/NEA ROSA Project using the Large Scale Test Facility (LSTF). A test section was furnished in the downstream of the LSTF break unit horizontally attached to the cold leg. The boundary test conditions were defined based on PWR LBLOCA analysis by RELAP5/MOD3.2.1.2 code considering typical Japanese safety analysis conditions. Significant condensation of steam appeared in a short distance from the simulated ECCS injection point, and the steam temperature in the test section decreased immediately after the initiation of the ECCS water injection. Fluid temperature distribution at 50 mm downstream from the ECCS injection point was significantly non-uniform, but became almost uniform in less than 350 mm. Total steam condensation rate estimated from the difference between steam flow rates at the test section inlet and outlet was in proportion to the simulated ECCS water mass flux until the complete condensation of steam. Inlet steam was completely condensed if inlet steam mass flux is less than 195 kg/(m2s) when the simulated ECCS water mass flux is 148 kg/(m2s); equivalent to full high-pressure injection with single-failure low-pressure injection conditions. Clear images of high-speed video camera were obtained on droplet behaviors through the viewer at 200 mm downstream from the ECCS injection point, especially for annular mist flow. The number of flowing droplets decreased with increasing distance from the ECCS injection point.Copyright