Codes of new generation for safety justification of power units with a closed nuclear fuel cycle developed for the “PRORYV” project

Abstract

The article describes the status of development of codes of new generation for the “PRORYV” Project by the end of 2019: twenty-five commercial-grade software products to justify design solutions and safety of power units with fast neutron reactors and liquid metal coolant (sodium and lead) in a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The developed system of codes is multi-physical and multi-scale that allows performing both calculations of the whole installations and high precision calculations of their individual elements. The developed codes offer unique features. Twelve developed codes have already been certified by Rostechnadzor, and six more have been submitted for certification. In addition to creating the software products, a large-scale work is being carried out to conduct experimental studies for code validation that meet modern requirements imposed by the codes: unique measurement techniques have been created; experimental data on flow characteristics of heavy liquid metal coolant (HLMC) in a fuel assembly simulator have been obtained, as well as of “gas-HLMC” interphase interaction after inert gas injection in HLMC and characteristics of heat exchange between the inert gas and HLMC. The results are already used for validation of system and CFD codes used in the “PRORYV” Project.

Liquid metal cooled fast reactor thermal hydraulic research development: A review

“…A study on New Generation codes for ground-breaking projects has been conducted. The first was the creation of a set of codes of varying degrees of complexity that may be used to solve NPP safety duties using fast reactors constructed in Russia as part of the Federal Target Program for new-generation nuclear power technology [ 84 ]. The coding system enables a consistent multi-physics and multiscale examination of operational and emergency regimes to be carried out.…”