Application of CFD codes in nuclear reactor safety analysis

The last decade has seen an increasing use of computational fluid dynamics codes (CFD) to predict steady state and transient flows in nuclear reactors. The reason for the increased use of CFD methods is that a number of phenomena important for the assessment of the safety of nuclear reactors such as pressurized thermal shocks, boron mixing, thermal striping and sub-cooled boiling cannot be predicted by traditional one-dimensional system codes with the required accuracy and spatial resolution.

CFD codes are characterized by the fact that the underlying equations are implemented in a clearly more detailed way in comparison to the one-dimensional system codes. Nevertheless, these codes contain empirical models for simulating turbulence, heat transfer, multi-phase flows, and chemical reactions. Such models must be validated before they can be used with sufficient confidence in Nuclear Reactor Safety (NRS) applications.

CFD validation simulations are shown in areas such as: heat transfer, buoyancy, multi-phase flows, natural circulation, turbulent mixing, and complex geometries. These topics are related to the above mentioned NRS-relevant issues.

The following topical issues will be discussed in the presentation:

1. Coolant Mixing (Boron Dilution Transient)
2. Coolant Mixing (Pressurized Thermal Shock)
3. Debris Transport Phenomena in multidimensional water flow
4. Sub-cooled boiling - Application to fuel rod bundle safety assessment

The material presented has been prepared by FZD partly under the sponsorship by the European Commission, the German Government (BMWA) and the VGB PowerTech e.V.