Heat Transfer Behaviour and Thermohydraulics Code Testing for Supercritical Water Cooled Reactors (SCWRs)

Considering the high interest shown in a number of Member States, the IAEA established in 2008 the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Heat Transfer Behaviour and Thermo-hydraulics Code Testing for SCWRs. The aim was to foster international collaboration in the R&D of SCWRs in support of Member States’ efforts and under the auspices of the IAEA nuclear Energy Department’s Technical Working Groups on Advanced Technologies for Light Water Reactors (TWG-LWR) and Heavy Water Reactors (TWG-HWR). The two key objectives of the CRP were to establish accurate databases on the thermohydraulics of supercritical pressure fluids and to test analysis methods for SCWR thermohydraulic behaviour to identify code development needs. In total, 16 institutes from nine Member States and two international organizations were involved in the CRP. The thermohydraulics phenomena investigated in the CRP included heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of supercritical pressure fluids, development of new heat transfer prediction methods, critical flow during depressurization from supercritical conditions, flow stability and natural circulation in supercritical pressure systems. Two code testing benchmark exercises were performed for steady state heat transfer and flow stability in a heated channel. The CRP was completed with the planned outputs in 2012. This publication consists of the background and objectives, descriptions of current SCWR design concepts, and major technical achievements from the CRP tasks based on the results of R&D at participating institutes and through their close collaboration. It provides researchers and engineers with a comprehensive and reliable database, and the current status of prediction methods in the area of thermohydraulics of supercritical pressure fluids relevant to SCWRs.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen