WALMIR MAXIMO TORRES
2 resultados
Resultados de Busca
Agora exibindo 1 - 2 de 2
Artigo IPEN-doc 30370 Assessment of the IEA-R1 nuclear reactor using a nonstandard fuel assembly with six fuel plates of the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor2024 - SOARES, HUMBERTO V.; TORRES, WALMIR M.; UMBEHAUN, PEDRO E.; BELCHIOR, ANTONIO; ANDRADE, DELVONEI A. deIn order to qualify the fuel plates of the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB), a nonstandard Instrumented Fuel Assembly (IFA) was designed and is being constructed to be burned in the IEA-R1 nuclear research reactor. IFA has fuel plates of different uranium densities (10 fixed fuel plates of 3.0 gU/cm3 – IEA-R1 standard; 6 removable fuel plates of 3.7 gU/cm3 – RMB; and a central aluminum plate). This paper is the first step to demonstrate that IEA-R1 can safely operate with this IFA. To verify the IFA thermal behavior inside the IEA-R1 core during reactor operation and certify the no power peaks occurrence, the power distribution was calculated for each fuel plate. LEOPARD and HAMMER-TECHNION codes were utilized to calculate the core thermal neutron cross section and CITATION code to calculate the core power distribution. Calculations were performed for 5 MW reactor power considering the IFA placed in a core peripheral position. The RMB fuel plates average power was 4.73 % higher compared to IEA-R1 fuel plates. This was expected due to the higher density of uranium in these plates. The power of each IFA fuel plate was compared with a fresh IEA-R1 Fuel Assembly (FA) at the same core position. The power in the IFA hottest plate is only 6.79 % higher than the correspondent IEA-R1 fuel plate. The IFA power distribution was also compared to the hottest FA of the core. The power of each IFA fuel plate was below its correspondent hottest FA fuel plate. In addition, the total IFA power is 18.40 % less than the hottest FA in the core. No significant power peaks occur in the IFA during operation. As future works, thermal–hydraulic calculations will be performed considering this calculated power distribution and no hot spots are expected.Artigo IPEN-doc 27183 Total and partial loss of coolant experiments in an instrumented fuel assembly of IEA-R1 research reactor2020 - MAPRELIAN, EDUARDO; TORRES, WALMIR M.; BELCHIOR JUNIOR, ANTONIO; UMBEHAUN, PEDRO E.; BERRETTA, JOSE R.; SABUNDJIAN, GAIANEThe safety of nuclear facilities has been a growing global concern, mainly after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Studies on nuclear research reactor accidents such as the Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA), many times considered a design basis accident, are important for ensure the integrity of the plant. A LOCA may lead to the partial or complete uncovering of the fuel assemblies and it is necessary to assure the decay heat removal as a safety condition. This work aimed to perform, in a safe way, partial and complete uncovering experiments for an Instrumented Fuel Assembly (IFA), in order to measure and compare the actual fuel temperatures behavior for LOCA in similar conditions to research reactors. A test section for experimental simulation of Loss of Coolant Accident named STAR was designed and built. The IFA was irradiated in the IEA-R1 core and positioned in the STAR, which was totally immersed in the reactor pool. Thermocouples were installed in the IFA to measure the clad and fluid temperatures in several axial and radial positions. Experiments were carried out for five levels of uncovering of IFA, being one complete uncovering and four partial uncovering, in two different conditions of decay heat. It was observed that the cases of complete uncovering of the IFA were the most critical ones, that is, those cases presented higher clad temperatures when compared with partial uncovering cases, for the specific conditions of heat decay intensity and dissipation analyzed. The maximum temperatures reached in all experiments were quite below the fuel blister temperature, which is around 500 °C. The STAR has proven to be a safe and reliable experimental apparatus for conducting loss of coolant experiments.