[1M07-11] SMR Plant Design and Deployment

[1M08] Development towards implementation and domestic deployment of economical SMR BWRX-300

(2) Qualification of evaluation methodology for natural circulation flow rate

*Antonin Povolny¹, Hajime Furuichi¹, Kenichi Katono¹, Kenichi Yasuda¹, Kazuaki Kito¹ (1. HGNE)

Keywords:BWRX-300, Chimney, Void fraction, Natural circulation, Wire-mesh sensor

The BWRX-300 is a water-cooled natural circulation small modular reactor developed by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy in cooperation with Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy. The BWRX-300 uses a tall chimney above the core to provide natural circulation head to drive sufficient core flow and ensure fuel is operated within its thermal limits. The TRACG system code has been qualified for calculating thermal limits in BWRs including the natural circulation ESBWR. This work describes the extension of TRACG qualification to the large-diameter simplified chimney of BWRX-300 including testing in Hitachi Utility Steam Test LEading facility (HUSTLE) using a down-scaled chimney of around 0.5 m in diameter, at nominal BWR operating pressure, temperature and flow conditions scaled down from BWRX-300 chimney flow conditions.