PSBR CORE DESIGN STUDIES OF THE D2O TANK DESIGN AND NEW LEU FUEL UTILIZATION
Open Access
- Author:
- Karriem, Veronica
- Graduate Program:
- Nuclear Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- None
- Committee Members:
- Maria Nikolova Avramova, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Maria Nikolova Avramova, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- thermal hydraulic
PSBR - Abstract:
- The Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR) is in the process of changing the core-moderator assembly of the reactor requiring a complete safety evaluation. In this study, the core thermal-hydraulics aspects of the envisioned modifications were investigated. In particular, the D2O tank will be redesigned to such an extent, that concerns were raised about the cooling of the core with the new D2O moderator tank. The first task was to establish a thermal hydraulic model of the current PSBR core. This model was designed using the thermal hydraulic code COBRA-TF (CTF). The CTF predictions of the hot channel coolant temperature and the hot rod maximum fuel temperature were compared against recent experimental data. The developed CTF model of the new PSBR core was utilized for design studies. A feasibility study was performed to investigate the coolant flow patterns through the core for a possible power upgrade for the reactor. Our results for the thermal hydraulic model of the current PSBR core have shown good agreement with the measured data. The results of flow patterns of the coolant through the core are as anticipated for the new design core-D2O moderator tank. These studies are part of an ongoing project aiming to determine the safety of the new PSBR core loading. In addition to these studies, the reactor core was analyzed for an addition of a new fuel type. The result of this analysis showed that the new fuel is more reactive than the current standard TRIGA fuel currently in the core and further core design studies are required.