Thermal Hydraulic Test of Advanced Fuel Bundle With Spectral Shift Rod (SSR) for BWR: Steady State and Transient Test Results and Analysis

Japanese national project of next generation light water reactor (LWR) development started in 2008. Under this project, spectral shift rod (SSR) is being developed.SSR, which replaces conventional water rod (WR) of boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel bundle, was invented to enhance the BWR’s merit, spectral shift effect for uranium saving. In SSR, water boils by neutron and gamma-ray direct heating and water level is formed as a boundary of the upper steam region and the lower water region. This SSR water level can be controlled by core flow rate, which amplifies the change of average core void fraction, resulting in the amplified spectral shift effect.This paper presents the steady state test with varied SSR geometry parameters, the transient test, and the simulation analysis of these steady state and transient tests. The steady state test results showed that the basic functioning principle such as the controllability of SSR water level by flow rate was maintained in the possible range of geometry parameters. The transient test results showed that the change rate of SSR water level was slower than the initiating parameters. The simulation analysis of steady state and transient test showed that the analysis method can simulate the height of SSR water level and its change with a good agreement.As a result, it is shown that the SSR design concept and its analysis method are feasible in both steady state and transient conditions.Copyright © 2012 by ASME