Title: Thermal hydraulic analysis of small nuclear reactor core by using comparative approach of THEATRe and Relap5 code

Authors: Salah Ud-Din Khan; Minjun Peng; Shahab Ud-Din Khan

Addresses: College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China. ' College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China. ' College of Mathematics and Statistics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

Abstract: Thermal analysis of a nuclear reactor is very important in determining its design. It can produce desired thermal power without exceeding limitations on core components, which could lead to fuel failure and radioactive release into the environment. In this paper, thermal hydraulic studies of a small nuclear reactor core have been carried out by using two well-known thermal hydraulic codes, Relap5 and THEATRe. The Relap5 code can deal with plate-type fuel elements but the THEATRe code works only for pin-type fuel elements. For this purpose, the THEATRe code has been modified for the plate-type fuel element and then used in the current research. The results obtained from both codes agree well, confirming the accuracy of simulation.

Keywords: thermal hydraulic studies; Relap5 code; THEATRe code; comparative analysis; code modification; simulation accuracy; nuclear reactors; reactor core; nuclear energy; nuclear power.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2011.045097

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2011 Vol.6 No.4, pp.271 - 283

Published online: 14 Feb 2015 *

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