Thermal-hydraulic analysis of the IEA-R1 research reactor – a comparison between ideal and actual conditions

Abstract

Thermal-hydraulic analysis were performed for the IEA-R1 research reactor considering ideal, estimated and actual flow rate conditions through the fuel elements. The ideal conditions were obtained dividing the total primary flow rate among the fuel elements and the estimated conditions were calculated using the computer program FLOW. The actual flow rate conditions were experimentally measured using an instrumented dummy fuel element. The results show that the actual conditions are far from ideal and calculated ones due to the high bypass flow that deviates the active reactor core through the irradiation devices, gaps, couplings, etc..Thus, the safety margins are smaller for the actual flow conditions.