Dynamic effect of sodium-water reaction in fast flux test facility power addition sodium pipes

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is a demonstration and test facility of the sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor. A power addition to the facility is being considered to convert some of the dumped, unused heat into electricity generation. Components and piping systems to be added are sodium-water steam generators, sodium loop extensions from existing dump heat exchangers to sodium-water steam generators, and conventional water/steam loops. The sodium loops can be subjected to the dynamic loadings of pressure pulses that are caused by postulated sodium leaks and subsequent sodium-water reaction in the steam generator. The existing FFTF secondary pipes and the new power addition sodium loops were evaluated for exposure to the dynamic effect of the sodium-water reaction. Elastic and simplified inelastic dynamic analyses were used in this feasibility study. The results included in this paper indicate that both the maximum strain and strain range are within the allowable limits. Several cycles of the sodium-water reaction can be sustained by the sodium pipes that are supported by ordinary pipe supports and seismic restraints. Expensive axial pipe restraints to withstand the sodium-water reaction loads are not needed, because the pressure-pulse-induced alternating bending stresses act as secondary stresses and the pressure pulse dynamic effect is a deformation-controlled quantity and is self-limiting