LMFR core and heat exchanger thermohydraulic design: former USSR and present Russian approaches

The information presented in this report is dealing with liquid metal cooled fast reactors some of which are in operation (France, Japan, Russian federation) or under construction. Comprehensive thermal hydraulic research both experimental and numeric applied to such reactors was carried out in the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE), Obninsk, Russian Federation. The IAEA Working Group on fast Reactors (IWGFR) recommended that IPPE should generalize its thermal hydraulic studies as well as results of other countries published previously in the field of liquid metal flow distribution and heat transfer in fuel pin and heat exchanger rod bundles (France, Germany, Japan, India, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States). The validity of computer codes and design approaches was proven by comparison of calculated results with measured values of velocity, pressure, temperature distributions in rod bundles cooled/heated by liquid metal, usually sodium. The report includes the methodology and philosophy of the analytical and experimental investigations when applied to core and heat exchanger thermal hydraulic design of Light Water Moderated Fast Reactors (LMFRs)