Development of analytical code for core disruptive accident of metallic fuel core and evaluation of upper limitation of coolant void reactivity

In the event of HCDA (Hypothetical Core Damage Accident) the safety of the metallic core must be ensured. Coolant void reactivity, which produces a positive reactivity effect, must be restrained to exclude 'energetic sequence' (uncontrollable power generation). As this reactivity and the core performance are in a state of confrontation, an upper limit must be determined through safety analyses. The larger the coolant void reactivity becomes, the more the core performance improves. A core dynamics analysis code named CANIS has been developed to analysis metallic fuel properties, irradiation behavior, and transient behavior in the initiating phase of HCDA. ULOF (Unprotected Loss Of Flow) events, which are considered major HCDA initiators, are analyzed with various parameters of cladding failure conditions and molten fuel dispersion velocities. The results indicate, the cladding failure condition is the most sensitive safety parameter. The coolant void reactivity of 12$ is acceptable in the condition that cladding fails at 1,000 degC. And the upper value is limited to 8$ for the conservative condition of a 1,200 degC failure criteria. (author)