Application of RELAP5/MOD3.3 to Calculate Thermal Hydraulic Behavior of the Pressurizer Safety Valve Performance Test Facility

The increase of the acceptance tolerance of Pressurizer Safety Valve (PSV) test is vital for the safe operation of nuclear power plants because the frequent tests may make the valves decrepit and become a cause of leak. Recently, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) is building a PSV performance test facility to provide the technical background data for the relaxation of the acceptance tolerance of PSV including the valve pop-up characteristics and the loop seal dynamics (if the plant has the loop seal in the upstream of PSV). The discharge piping and supports must be designed to withstand severe transient hydrodynamic loads when the safety valve actuates. The evaluation of hydrodynamic loads is a two-step process: first the thermal hydraulic behavior in the piping must be defined, and then the hydrodynamic loads are calculated from the thermal hydraulic parameters such as pressure and mass flow. The hydrodynamic loads are used as input to the structural analysis