Design and Construction of 3-Ch Cross Flow Test Facility

To evaluate the reactor thermal margin of APR+, reactor core flow distribution including both axial and lateral directional hydraulic resistances of fuel assemblies should be known. Test facility on reactor core flow distribution (ACOP) is being designed and constructed. ACOP will use 257 core simulators and each core simulator should have the same core flow characteristics of the PLUS-7 fuel assembly. However, data on the lateral directional hydraulic resistance of full-size fuel assemblies is rare while data on the axial resistance is currently available. To design a core simulator which will be used at the ACOP test facility, a 3-Ch cross flow test facility is being designed and constructed with three full-size fuel assemblies. The axial and lateral directional hydraulic resistances of fuel assemblies will be measured. The test results will be applied to the design of the core simulator of the ACOP. The experimental data can also be utilized for the sub-channel analysis by upgrading the CFD model