An Overview of Thermal Hydraulic Design Validation Studies for AHWR

Abstract

Core heat removal by natural circulation under the operating as well as accidental conditions is one of the several passive safety features of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) being developed in India. Integral Test Loop (ITL) is an experimental test facility which simulates the Main Heat Transport System and safety systems of AHWR. Several experiments have been carried out to validate the thermal-hydraulic design features of AHWR such as flow stability during start-up, LOCA and performance of Isolation Condensers to remove decay heat using natural circulation. This paper presents an overview of these experimental studies.