Comparison of three small-break loss-of-coolant accident tests with different break locations using the system-integrated modular advanced reactor-integral test loop facility to estimate the safety of the smart design

• Main Authors: Hwang Bae, Dong Eok Kim, Sung-Uk Ryu, Sung-Jae Yi, Hyun-Sik Park
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-08-01
• Series: Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• Subjects: Small-break loss-of-coolant accident; System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor; Thermal–hydraulic phenomena; Safety injection; Core uncovery
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573317302607

Three small-break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) tests with safety injection pumps were carried out using the integral-effect test loop for SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor), i.e., the SMART-ITL facility. The types of break are a safety injection system line break, shutdown cooling system line break, and pressurizer safety valve line break. The thermal–hydraulic phenomena show a traditional behavior to decrease the temperature and pressure whereas the local phenomena are slightly different during the early stage of the transient after a break simulation. A safety injection using a high-pressure pump effectively cools down and recovers the inventory of a reactor coolant system. The global trends show reproducible results for an SBLOCA scenario with three different break locations. It was confirmed that the safety injection system is robustly safe enough to protect from a core uncovery.