VIPRE-01 integration with westinghouse PWR analysis technology

The Vapor-01/MOD02 (VIPRE) code is being integrated with Westinghouse's Thermal-Hydraulic (T/H) analysis methodology approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) for Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) core design and safety analysis. Based on the one-pass modeling approach, the hot channels and the reactor core can be modeled in few channels with fuel rods as conduction rods for Departure from Nucleate Boiling (DNB) and hot spot fuel temperature analyses. The VIPRE qualifications include comparisons with Westinghouse's design codes THINC and FACTRAN for a PWR design-basis locked rotor accident. The code comparisons show that the VIPRE code can be equivalent to Westinghouse's design codes for PWR safety analyses. As part of advanced reactor analysis technology development, the VIPRE code is also being integrated with Westinghouse's three-dimensional (3-D) neutron kinetic code ANC-K for more accurate calculations of coolant and fuel temperature feedback. The integrated ANC-K/VIPRE code system is expected to result in significant margin improvement over the traditional method using a point kinetic model for safety analysis of reactivity anomalies