Reflood experiments in rod bundles with flow blockages due to clad ballooning

Abstract

Abstract Clad ballooning and the resulting partial flow blockage are one of the major thermal-hydraulic concerns associated with the coolability of partially blocked cores during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Several in-pile tests have shown that fuel relocation causes a local power accumulation and a high thermal coupling between the clad and fuel debris in the ballooned regions. However, previous experiments in the 1980s did not take into account the fuel relocation phenomena and resulting local power increase in the ballooned regions. The present paper presents the results of systematic investigations on the coolability of rod bundles with flow blockages. The experiments were mainly performed in 5 × 5 rod bundles, 2 × 2 rod bundles and other test facilities. The experiments include a reflood heat transfer, single-phase convective heat transfer, flow redistributions phenomena, and droplet break-up behavior. The effects of the fuel relocation and resulting local power increase were investigated using a 5 × 5 rod bundle. The fuel relocation phenomena increase the peak cladding temperature.