Analysis of sodium boiling initiated by unprotected loss of flow in European sodium fast reactor core with different subassembly designs

In this paper, an Unprotected Loss of Flow (ULOF) assessment has been performed on the European Sodium Fast Reactor
developed in the ESFR-SMART EU project. To conduct the analysis, a simplified 42 channel thermal–hydraulic model has
been established in the TRACE system code, using a point kinetics model accounting for various reactivity feedback effects. The
assessment reveals the core behavior of a commercial size, 3600 MWth, sodium fast reactor using a state-of-the-art low
void effect reactor core design. The study focuses on the sodium boiling phenomenon and sodium reactivity feedback effect
evolution during the accident with the reference subassembly (SA) design. Following this analysis, a study has been
performed with a modified SA design. The boiling progression and phenomenology within the reference and the modified
core have been compared, and the impact of the SA modification was described.