Rod Ejection Accident by the Coupled System Code ATHLET-QUABOX/CUBBOX

• Published in: Journal of Power and Energy Systems Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 165 - 176
• Main Authors: PERIN, Yann, VELKOV, Kiril, PASICHNYK, Igor, LANGENBUCH, Siegfried
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers 2012
• Subjects: Coupled Codes; Parametric Study; Reactivity Initiated Accident (RIA); Rod Ejection Accident (REA)
• ISSN: 1881-3062; 1881-3062
• DOI: 10.1299/jpes.6.165

The paper considers a Rod Ejection Accident (REA) which has been calculated by the coupled-code system ATHLET-QUABOX/CUBBOX. For the present study, a MOX/UOX mixed core loading was developed on the basis of a generic PWR. The results are particularly focused on the fuel enthalpy rise which is the main safety criterion for such transient. A parametric REA study has been performed, showing the influence of some important thermal-hydraulic and neutron-physical parameters. Simulations have been performed using realistic or artificially decreased delayed neutron fractions for two different core states (HZP and 30% of the nominal power). Effective fuel rod temperature influence (i.e. Doppler coefficient) has been studied by using different correlations (0.5/0.5 weighting factors or the typical TDoppler = 0.7 TSurface + 0.3 TCenter) or by changing the fuel gap conductance. It is shown that the maximum enthalpy (and enthalpy increase) does not always appear in the affected fuel assembly but can also appear in the neighboring ones. This result is a direct consequence of the burn up dependence of the enthalpy. The paper also considers the case of local delayed neutron parameters and briefly describes the future REA studies foreseen at GRS such as an investigation of quantitative uncertainty propagation from the nuclear data to the transient behavior.