Next Generation Nuclear Plant GAP Analysis Report
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ORNL/TM-2007/228 Next Generation Nuclear Plant GAP Analysis Report July 2008 Prepared by S. J. Ball R&D Staff Member DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY Reports produced after January 1, 1996, are generally available free via the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Information Bridge. Web site http://www.osti.gov/bridge Reports produced before January 1, 1996, may be purchased by members of the public from the following source. National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Telephone 703-605-6000 (1-800-553-6847) TDD 703-487-4639 Fax 703-605-6900 E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.ntis.gov/support/ordernowabout.htm Reports are available to DOE employees, DOE contractors, Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE) representatives, and International Nuclear Information System (INIS) representatives from the following source. Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Telephone 865-576-8401 Fax 865-576-5728 E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.osti.gov/contact.html This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. ORNL/TM-2007/228 Nuclear Science & Technology Division NEXT GENERATION NUCLEAR PLANT GAP ANALYSIS REPORT S. J. Ball,1 T. D. Burchell, W. R. Corwin, S. E. Fisher C. W. Forsberg,2 R. N. Morris, D. L. Moses Prepared for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1Corresponding Author 2Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 Date Published: July 2008 Prepared by OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6283 managed by UT-BATTELLE, LLC for the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 CONTENTS Page_Toc203537209 LIST OF FIGURES..............................................................................................................................vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................... ix ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS.............................................................................................. xi ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................2 2. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE .............................................................................................................3 3. ACCIDENT AND THERMAL-FLUIDS (T/F) PHENOMENA..................................................... 5 3.1 MAJOR PHENOMENA AND PROCESSES OF INTEREST..............................................5 3.2 EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL MODELING ASPECTS OF PHENOMENA— BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................6 3.2.1 T/F and Neutronic Accident Analysis Code Attributes ............................................6 3.2.2 Whole-Plant Modeling Codes...................................................................................8 3.2.3 Confinement Analysis Codes....................................................................................8 3.2.4 Codes Dealing with Chemical Reactions..................................................................9 3.3 CLOSING THE GAPS—STAGES OF MODEL DEVELOPMENT..................................10 3.3.1 Near-Term Approaches...........................................................................................11 3.3.2 Intermediate- and Long-Term Approaches.............................................................13 3.3.3 Summary Descriptions and Evaluations of Selected Existing Code Capabilities..............................................................................................................13 3.4 SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................16 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................17 4. REACTOR PHYSICS ................................................................................................................... 19 4.1 MAJOR PHENOMENA OF INTEREST ............................................................................20 4.1.1 Background in Selection of Phenomena .................................................................20 4.1.2 Design Aspects That Impact Neutronic Phenomena...............................................21 4.2 EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL MODELING ASPECTS OF PHENOMENA ..25 4.3 CLOSING THE GAPS—STAGES OF MODEL DEVELOPMENT..................................27 4.3.1 Near-Term Approaches...........................................................................................27 4.3.2 Intermediate- and Long-Term Approaches.............................................................28 4.4 SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................28 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................28 iii 5. FUEL AND FISSION PRODUCT TRANSPORT........................................................................ 31 5.1 FISSION PRODUCT AND RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS TRANSPORT PHENOMENA.....................................................................................................................32 5.2 EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL MODELING ASPECTS OF PHENOMENA ..32 5.2.1 Background and History of FPT Model Development ...........................................32 5.2.2 Physical Models of Phenomena and Supporting Analytical Methods ....................34 5.2.3 Brief Summary of Phenomena Models...................................................................36 5.2.4 Relevant Material or Component Data Over the Range of Interest and the Data Uncertainty .....................................................................................................44 5.2.5 The Reactor Component and Confinement/Containment Configuration and Their Relative Roles in the Safety Case..................................................................45 5.2.6 Computational Software or Other Methods for Determining the Quantitative Results.....................................................................................................................46 5.2.7 Integral Testing Over a Wide Range of Conditions to Support the Computational Methods and Their Uncertainty......................................................47 5.3 CLOSING THE GAPS—STAGES OF MODEL DEVELOPMENT..................................47 5.3.1 Near-Term Approaches........................................................................................................47 5.3.2 Intermediate- and Long-Term Approaches.............................................................49 5.4 SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................51 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................52 6. HIGH-TEMPERATURE MATERIALS ....................................................................................... 55 6.1 MAJOR PHENOMENA OF INTEREST ............................................................................55 6.1.1 Phenomena Ranked Importance—High, Knowledge—Low ..................................55 6.1.2 Phenomena Ranked Importance—High, Knowledge—Medium............................58 6.2 PHYSICAL AND SUPPORTING MODEL ASPECTS......................................................58 6.3 CLOSING THE GAPS—STAGES OF MODEL DEVELOPMENT..................................59 6.3.1 Near Term ...............................................................................................................59 6.3.2 Intermediate and Long Term...................................................................................60 6.4 SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................60 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................61 7. GRAPHITE.................................................................................................................................... 63 7.1 MAJOR PHENOMENA OF INTEREST ............................................................................63