Abstract

A coupled neutronic/thermal-hydraulic (TH) hot channel (HC) analysis was performed to investigate the feasibility of the High Power Density (HPD) marine SMR concept and to identify the main TH challenges characterizing these designs. There are obvious TH concerns regarding an HPD core. Therefore, the design of HPD cores requires accurate prediction of the TH parameters in order to ensure safe operation. This work utilizes the coupling of MONK as a hybrid Monte Carlo (MC) reactor physics code with sub-channel analysis TH code COBRA -EN. This hybrid MC option offers efficiency gains over conventional MC approaches and accuracy benefits when compared with traditional deterministic methods. Coupled neutronic-TH analysis of the HPD 333 M Wth core design was undertaken to evaluate key TH parameters such as: MDNBR , surface heat flux (SHF), critical heat flux (CHF), cladding inner surface and fuel centreline temperatures, and pressure drop. The main objective of this coupled neutronic/TH HC analysis is to identify the most promising HPD core that achieves a significant increase in power density while satisfying safety margin requirements.

This talk will discuss the (1) Coupling Method; (2) Coupling Scheme and Data Exchange and (3) Hot Channel Analysis of Improved Power Density SMR Core.