Quick-look report on LOFT nuclear experiment L3-2

Loss-of-Coolant Experiment (LOCE) L3-2, the third experiment in the Loss-of-Fluid Test (LOFT) Small Break Series L3 scheduled for performance in the LOFT facility, was successfully completed on February 7, 1980. LOCE L3-2 simulated a single-ended offset shear break of a small (1-in.-dia) pipe connected to the cold leg of a four-loop large pressurized water reactor. After experiment initiation, the primary system depressurization rate stabilized, decreasing system pressure to a point where flow from the high-pressure injection system approximated the break flow. Operator intervention, as planned, was used to reduce system pressure so that the final stage of plant cooldown could be accomplished with the purification system. The reactor system was brought to a cold shutdown condition 6.5 hours after experiment initiation