Thermalhydraulic Subchannel Analysis in Ballooned Regions of a Damaged Core During the Reflood Phase of a LOCA

Abstract

This study focuses on thermal-hydraulic simulations, at sub-channel scale, of a damaged PWR reactor core during a Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA). The aim of this study is to accurately simulate the thermal-hydraulics to provide the thermal-mechanical code DRACCAR with an accurate wall heat transfer law. This latter code is developed by the French Safety Institute “Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire” (IRSN) to evaluate the thermics and deformations of fuel assemblies within the core. The present paper first describes the methodology considered to evaluate the capabilities of existing codes CATHARE-3 and CESAR to simulate dispersed droplet flows at a sub-channel scale and then provides some first evaluations of them.