[en] After a SB-LOCA or improper maintenance activities, the potential exists for a non-uniform distribution of boric acid in a PWR coolant system. This in turn presents the possibility of a reactivity excursion if sufficient volumes of boron-dilute water are transported into the core region without having first undergone substantial mixing. A research program is being conducted at the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) 2 x 4 thermal-hydraulic test facility to assess the generation, transport and mixing of boron-dilute volumes. Start up of a pump and flow of a boron free slug of water in the cold leg and subsequent transport to the core downcomer in the facility is investigated here

[en] The analysis of loss of coolant accidents in a nuclear power plant, which progress to the stage where the core is uncovered, poses important safety related questions. One of these concerns the rate of energy transport to metal components of the primary system. An experimental program has been conducted at the Univ. of Maryland test facility which quantifies the rate of energy transfer from an uncovered core in a B ampersand W (once-through type steam generators) plant. SF₆ is used to simulate the natural circulation driving force of the high pressure steam expected at prototypical conditions. A time-dependent scaling methodology is developed to transpose experimental data to prototypical conditions. To achieve this transformation, a nominal fluid temperature increase rate of 1.0 degrees C/s is inferred from available TMI-2 event data. To bracket the range of potential prototypical transient scenarios, temperature ramps of 0.8 degrees C/s and 1.2 degrees C/s are also considered. Repeated tests, covering a range of test facility conditions, lead to estimated failure times at the surge line nozzle of 1.5 to 2 hours after initiation of the natural circulation phase of the transient

[en] A novel light water reactor design called the AP600 has been proposed by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. In the evaluation of this plant's behavior during a small break loss of coolant accident (LOCA), the crucial transition to low pressure, long-term cooling is marked by the injection of the gravitationally driven flow from the in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST). The onset of this injection is characterized by intermittency in the IRWST flow. This happens at a time when the reactor vessel reaches its minimum inventory. Therefore, it is important to understand and scale the behavior of the integral experimental test facilities during this portion of the transient. The explanation is that the periodic liquid drains and refills of the pressurizer are the reason for the intermittent behavior. The momentum balance for the surge line yields the nondimensional parameter controlling this process. Data from one of the three experimental facilities represent the phenomena well at the prototypical scale. The impact of the intermittent IRWST injection on the safe plant operation is assessed and its implications are successfully resolved. The oscillation is found to result from, in effect, excess water in the primary system and it is not of safety significance. (orig.)

[en] The Westinghouse Electric Corporation has developed a new, advanced light water reactor, the AP600, and has submitted the design for U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission certification. Westinghouse conducted supporting testing programs to provide experimental data to validate its computer codes used to analyze the performance of the AP600 design. One of these facilities was a reduced-pressure, reduced-height (1:4) integral system test facility located at Oregon State University-the Advanced Plant Experiment (APEX). The governing objective of the testing program was to evaluate system depressurization, transition to in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST) injection, and long-term cooling. A key feature in the long-term cooling data from some of the APEX experiments is flow oscillations that begin upon return to saturated conditions at the core exit. In this paper, the mechanism for these oscillations is explained, their relevance to the AP600 is discussed, and conclusions about their safety significance are drawn

[en] The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) is considering how to best obtain integral system test data for the new reactors with passive safety systems, AP600 and simplified boiling water reactor (SBWR). This paper discusses scaling issues that must be considered in designing such a thermal-hydraulic integral test facility. Topics covered include experimental requirements for such a facility, a critical review of available scaling methodologies, experience from past testing programs which may aid the design of a new facility, enumeration of minimum dimensions for an integral test facility and application of these concepts to the design of a low pressure test facility

[en] The evaporative cooling of a sparse spray impacting on a hot solid is investigated to determine the limiting condition associated with the liquid flooding of the solid surface. The flooding condition is identified when the evaporation rate is insufficient to remove the amount of water being deposited on the surface. The flooding criteria is derived as a function of the initial single droplet volume prior to deposition, the Evaporation-Recovery Cycle (ERC) and the area of influence, which describes the region of the solid surface associated with a single droplet cooling effect. These last two quantities, the ERC and the area of influence, are evaluated by integrating previously obtained theoretical and experimental information with selected experimental data obtained in this study. The flooding criteria, while semi-empirical in its derivation, can be generalized to all non-porous solids under a variety of conditions. The spray is sparse and the water droplets are considered of uniform size. Extension to a spray with non-uniform droplet distribution is not considered here