The first part of the report results from a study that was performed as a Nordic co-operation activity with active participation from Studsvik Scandpower and Westinghouse Atom in Sweden, and VTT in Finland. The purpose of the study was to identify and investigate the effects rising from using the 3D transient computer codes in BWR safety analysis, and their influence on the transient analysis methodology. One of the main questions involves the critical power ratio (CPR) calculation methodology. The present way, where the CPR calculation is performed with a separate hot channel calculation, can be artificially conservative.
In the investigated cases, no dramatic minimum CPR effect coming from the 3D calculation is apparent. Some cases show some decrease in the transient change of minimum CPR with the 3D calculation, which confirms the general thinking that the 1D calculation is conservative. On the other hand, the observed effect on neutron flux behaviour is quite large. In a slower transient the 3D effect might be stronger.
The second part of the report is a summary of a related seminar that was held on the 3D analysis methods. The seminar was sponsored by the Reactor Safety part (NKS-R) of the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research Programme (NKS).
Keywords:
3D transient computer codes; critical power ratio; BWR safety analysis