Bowing behavior of subassemblies in experimental fast reactor ''JOYO''

In JOYO, the measured power coefficients in the beginning of the operation cycle of MK-I and MK-II cores showed power dependence, while the calculation without taking account of bowing predicted little power dependence. The bowing analysis was performed in order to investigate the power dependence observed in the measured power coefficients and the following conclusions were obtained. (1) The evaluated power coefficients taking account of bowing effect agree better with measured ones than the calculated ones without taking account of bowing effect in MK-I core. (2) In MK-II core, although the analytical results show not so good agreement quantitatively with the measured power coefficients, it is suggested that they agree better depending on the uncertain parameters such as the heat generation in the reflector region, the threshold moment for leaning and the stiffness of the inner reflector. (3) It becomes clear from these results that the power dependence observed in the measured power coefficients in JOYO is due to the bowing effect. (author)