Use of Operational Data for the Validation of the SOPHT Thermal-Hydraulic Code

Abstract

Thermal hydraulic models used to predict Primary Heat Transport (PHT) System behaviour have traditionally been applied with design conditions to predict transient responses of accident scenarios in safety analysis. Recently. the use of reactor operational data has been integral in the development of thermal-hydraulic codes to improve the quality of predictions. The basis of accurate thermal-hydraulic predictions is use of appropriate models with accurate input data. An operating reactor provides a wealth of information. therefore, the models can be validated against operating conditions specific to the field of application. Thus. agreement between prediction and plant data continue to improve due to constant update of the thermal-hydraulic models and/or the input data. The multiple sources of operating data from the operating configurations of a multi-unit station act to further improve the codes capability. The ability to accurately predict thermal-hydraulic responses with the code provides the analyst with a powerful tool in reactor performance monitoring. The primary objective of this paper is to describe the validation process of the SOPHT and MINI-SOPHT codes with the use of reactor operational data. The secondary objective is to illustrate the effectiveness of the code as a performance monitoring tool by discussing the discoveries that were made during the validation process.