Pages: 3 - 15

Authors: Francesco D'AURIA, Marco CHERUBINI, Giorgio Maria GALASSI, and Nikolaus MUELLNER

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the "scaling strategy", in particular the role played by the counterpart test methodology. The recent studies dealing with a scaling analysis in light water reactor with special regard to the VVER 1000 Russian reactor type are presented to demonstrate the phenomena important for scaling. The adopted scaling approach is based on the selection of a few characteristic parameters chosen by taking into account their relevance in the behavior of the transient. The adopted computer code used is RELAP5/Mod3.3 and its accuracy has been demonstrated by qualitative and quantitative evaluation. Comparing experimental data, it was found that the investigated facilities showed similar behavior concerning the time trends, and that the same thermal hydraulic phenomena on a qualitative level could be predicted. The main results are: PSB and LOBI main parameters have similar trends. This fact is the confirmation of the validity of the adopted scaling approach and it shows that PWR and VVER reactor type behavior is very similar. No new phenomena occurred during the counterpart test, despite the fact that the two facilities had a different layout, and the already known phenomena were predicted correctly by the code. The code capability and accuracy are scale-independent. Both characteristics are necessary to permit the full scale calculation with the aim of nuclear power plant behavior prediction.

Key words: nuclear reactor safety, scaling analysis, VVER reactor, RELAP5

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