Experimental Validation of RELAP5 and TRACE5 for Licensing Studies of the Boron Injection System of Atucha II

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental validation of RELAP5 and TRACE5 for licensing studies of the Atucha II-PHWR nuclear power plant. A scaled experimental facility, representing the boron injection system of Atucha II, was built. The system has a fundamental importance for loss of coolant accidents (LOCA) and anticipated transients without scram (ATWS). The experiment consists of the discharge of a tank that represents the boron tank filled with air or a mixture of air-water onto a discharge tank that represents the moderator tank. Both tanks are connected by a pipe which includes a valve and an orifice plate to model the pressure losses due to the fittings in the real system. The pressure and water level measured in the tanks are compared with the RELAP5 and TRACE5 predictions. The codes predict the pressure in the tanks accurately. However, both codes overpredict the heat transfer in the boron tank air-water interface which produces a greater expansion of the air which leads to a small discrepancy in the boron tank level prediction.