A LOCA Blowdown Test of CANDU Fuel Elements

Abstract

Four elements of 37-element CANDU fuel bundle design were tested under conditions simulative of the blowdown of a large break loss of coolant accident (LOCA) in a CANDU reactor. The purpose of the test was to provide in-reactor confirmation of our currant understanding of fuel behaviour under loss-of-coolant accident blowdown conditions. The test also provided data for comparison with predictions made with the steady state and transient fuel element performance codes ELESIM and ELOCA. A test requirement was to have key components of a LOCA transient, namely, a large depressurization rate of the hot coolant, a simultaneous power increase before decreasing to decay values (a power pulse) , and real fuel elements under full power initial conditions. The test was successfully completed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INBL) in the Power Burst Facility reactor (PBF). This paper describes the experimental results of the test.