Nuclear-Coupled Flow Instabilities and Their Effects on Dryout

Nuclear-coupled flow/power oscillations in boiling water reactors (BWRs) are investigated experimentally and analytically. A detailed literature survey is performed to identify and classify instabilities in two-phase flow systems. The classification and the identification of the leading physical mechanisms of the two-phase flow instabilities are important to propose appropriate analytical models and scaling criteria for simulation. For the purpose of scaling and the analysis of the nonlinear aspects of the coupled flow/power oscillations, an extensive analytical modeling strategy is developed and used to derive both frequency and time domain analysis tools