Loss of coolant acident analyses on Osiris research reactor using the RELAP5 code

RELAP5/MOD 3.3 code is widely used for thermal hydraulic studies of commercial nuclear power plants. However, several current investigations have shown that RELAP5 code can also be applied for thermal hydraulic analysis of nuclear research systems with good predictions. In this paper, a nodalization of the core and the most important components of the primary cooling system of the OSIRIS reactor developed for RELAP5 thermal hydraulic code are presented as well as results of steady state and transient simulations. OSIRIS has thermal power of 70 MW and it is an open pool type research reactor moderated and cooled by water. The OSIRIS reactor characteristics have been used as a base for the development of a model for the Multipurpose Brazilian Reactor (RMB). The aim of the present work is to investigate the behavior of the core during a loss of coolant accident and the possible damage of the fuel elements due an inadequate heat removal. Although the core coolant reached the saturation point due the large break, the fuel element conditions were out of the damage zone. (author)