Start-up analysis of INET-5 MW district heating prototype reactor

The main features and thermohydraulic design parameters of the INET-5 MW reactor (INET: Institute of Nuclear Technology of Tsinghua University, Beijing) are presented. The start-up process and the effect of thermohydraulic instability on start-up process have been analyzed. The main obstacle of start-up process of INET-5 MW reactor is to pass the instability region from 1 atm to normal operation condition. For avoiding instability, the start-up process should be divided into two steps. The results of three different start-up proposals calculated by DACOL code are given and compared. The possibility of instabilities for each proposal has been checked. The checked results show that there is no instability during start-up of the three proposals. So, it is supposed that the INET-5 MW reactor can safely and stably reach the operation conditions. Finally, some conclusions about the effect of instability on start-up in boiling mode of INET-5MW reactor are given