Correlation of Steam Generator Mixing Parameters for Severe Accident Hot-Leg Natural Circulation

Steam generator inlet plenum mixing phenomenon with hot-leg counter-current natural circulation during a PWR station blackout severe accident is one of the important processes governing which component will fail first as a result of thermal challenge from the circulating gas with high temperature and pressure. Since steam generator tube failure represents bypass release of fission product from the reactor to environment, study of inlet plenum mixing parameters is important to risk analysis. Probability distribution functions of individual mixing parameter should be obtained from experiments or calculated by analysis. In order to perform sensitivity studies of the synergetic effects of all mixing parameters on the severe accident-induced steam generator tube failure, the distribution and correlation of these mixing parameters must be known to remove undue conservatism in thermal-hydraulic calculations. This paper discusses physical laws governing three mixing parameters in a steady state and setups the correlation among these mixing parameters. The correlation is then applied to obtain the distribution of one of the mixing parameters that has not been given in the previous CFD analysis. Using the distributions and considering the inter-dependence of the three mixing parameters, three sensitivity cases enveloping the mixing parameter uncertainties are recommended for the plant analysis. (authors)