Valuation of Power Oscillations in a BWR After Control Rod Banks Withdrawal Events

Abstract

The out-of-phase mode of oscillation is a very challenging type of instability occurring in BWR (Boiling Water Reactor) and its study is relevant because of the safety implications related to the capability to promptly detect any such inadvertent occurrence by in-core neutron detectors, thus triggering the necessary countermeasures in terms of selected rod insertion or even reactor shutdown. In this work, control rod banks withdrawal transient was considered to study the power instability occurring in a BWR. To simulate this transient, the control rod banks were continuously removed from the BWR core in different cases. The simulation resulted in a very large increase in the power. To perform the instability simulations, the RELAP5/MOD3.3 thermal hydraulic system code was coupled with the PARCS/2.4 3-D neutron kinetic code. Data from a real BWR, the Peach Bottom, have been used as reference conditions and reactor parameters. The trend of the mass flow rate, pressure, coolant temperature and the void fraction to four thermal hydraulic channels symmetrically located in the core with respect to the core centre, were taken. The behavior of the thermal hydraulic parameters investigated presented out-of-phase evolution comparing the channels that represents each half of the core.