Extending the Use of Spark Code to Deuterium Recombination Reactions for Use in Canadian CANDU Reactor Applications

Abstract

The Simulation of Passive Auto-catalytic Recombiners’ risK (SPARK) code is a Computational Fluid Dynamics code used to model the Passive Auto-catalytic Recombiner (PAR) behaviour in the containment of a nuclear reactor during a severe accident. It considers the chemical composition of the gaseous mixture in the reactor post-accident and determines the effectiveness of catalytic recombination within the PARs and overall potential combustion risk. The current version of the code specializes in the chemical/physical environment expected to be found in PWR (light water) reactors. The research proposed in this paper aims to extend the use of the SPARK code to include deuterium recombination reactions for use in Canadian CANDU reactor applications. The enhanced capability of the code will allow the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to contribute to the enhancement of capabilities for safety analysis of CANDU reactor design.