Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accident

Operation of the NuScale emergency core cooling system (ECCS) was studied, with an emphasis on the crucial role of the containment vessel (CNV). Design parameters such as vessel volume were varied to explore the resulting thermal hydraulic (TH) behaviour at the system level in the case of a loss-of-...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhexi Guo, Sicong Xiao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2025-06-01
Series:International Journal of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Design and Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468605025000493
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850080733553491968
author Zhexi Guo
Sicong Xiao
author_facet Zhexi Guo
Sicong Xiao
author_sort Zhexi Guo
collection DOAJ
description Operation of the NuScale emergency core cooling system (ECCS) was studied, with an emphasis on the crucial role of the containment vessel (CNV). Design parameters such as vessel volume were varied to explore the resulting thermal hydraulic (TH) behaviour at the system level in the case of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) initiated by a chemical and volume control system (CVCS) injection line break within the CNV. Results showed that an important phenomenon of concern was core fluid vaporisation, which could be suppressed with smaller vessels to keep system pressure and water levels in the core higher. Break elevation was found to be less significant, unless it were to occur below the reactor recirculation valves (RRV), which would result in backflow into the core and disrupt natural circulation. Increasing nominal power from 160 MW to 250 MW did not result in very different TH phenomena and could be managed by similar CNV designs and properties. Combined effects of a break at high elevation at the higher power of 250 MW appeared to reduce overall in-core vaporisation. Long-term cooling of the system was finally shown to be ensured up to 3 days with monotonously decreasing or constant core void fractions and pressures.
format Article
id doaj-art-9c737c8aee704466a47ae7c0ef7e0d4b
institution DOAJ
issn 2468-6050
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
record_format Article
series International Journal of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Design and Technology
spelling doaj-art-9c737c8aee704466a47ae7c0ef7e0d4b2025-08-20T02:44:53ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Journal of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Design and Technology2468-60502025-06-017210010910.1016/j.jandt.2025.05.003Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accidentZhexi Guo0Sicong Xiao1Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, National University of Singapore, 16 Prince George's Park, 118415, SingaporeCorresponding author.; Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, National University of Singapore, 16 Prince George's Park, 118415, SingaporeOperation of the NuScale emergency core cooling system (ECCS) was studied, with an emphasis on the crucial role of the containment vessel (CNV). Design parameters such as vessel volume were varied to explore the resulting thermal hydraulic (TH) behaviour at the system level in the case of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) initiated by a chemical and volume control system (CVCS) injection line break within the CNV. Results showed that an important phenomenon of concern was core fluid vaporisation, which could be suppressed with smaller vessels to keep system pressure and water levels in the core higher. Break elevation was found to be less significant, unless it were to occur below the reactor recirculation valves (RRV), which would result in backflow into the core and disrupt natural circulation. Increasing nominal power from 160 MW to 250 MW did not result in very different TH phenomena and could be managed by similar CNV designs and properties. Combined effects of a break at high elevation at the higher power of 250 MW appeared to reduce overall in-core vaporisation. Long-term cooling of the system was finally shown to be ensured up to 3 days with monotonously decreasing or constant core void fractions and pressures.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468605025000493NuScaleECCSASTECLOCAContainment behaviour
spellingShingle Zhexi Guo
Sicong Xiao
Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accident
International Journal of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Design and Technology
NuScale
ECCS
ASTEC
LOCA
Containment behaviour
title Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accident
title_full Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accident
title_fullStr Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accident
title_full_unstemmed Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accident
title_short Thermal hydraulic study of NuScale iPWR passive containment cooling behaviour during loss-of-coolant accident
title_sort thermal hydraulic study of nuscale ipwr passive containment cooling behaviour during loss of coolant accident
topic NuScale
ECCS
ASTEC
LOCA
Containment behaviour
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468605025000493
work_keys_str_mv AT zhexiguo thermalhydraulicstudyofnuscaleipwrpassivecontainmentcoolingbehaviourduringlossofcoolantaccident
AT sicongxiao thermalhydraulicstudyofnuscaleipwrpassivecontainmentcoolingbehaviourduringlossofcoolantaccident