Thermalhydraulics and safety research in support of Phase-II of the Canadian Generation-IV national program

The thermalhydraulics and safety projects in the Phase-II of the Canadian National Program for Gen-IV Energy Technologies have been established to (i) provide relevant experimental data for verification and validation of prediction methods and analytical toolsets developed in Phase-I, and (ii) improve the accuracy of prediction methods in support of fuel assembly optimization and safety analyses. Several experimental projects are currently being carried out to obtain heat-transfer data with annuli, 3-rod assembly, and 4-rod assembly in refrigerant- 134a flow, carbon dioxide flow, and water flow, and blow-down and natural-circulation data with tubes in water and carbon dioxide flow, respectively. These experimental data have led to improved understanding of the thermalhydraulics phenomena and enhanced the prediction accuracy of parameters. Prediction methods for thermalhydraulics parameters have been derived to support the fuel optimization and safety analyses. This has led to improved confidence in the development of the Canadian SCWR concept. (author)