Thesis: Sc. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Engineering, 1977 / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / Sc. D. / Sc. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Engineering

M.Phil. (Energy Studies) / Nodal diffusion methods are often used to calculate the distribution of neutrons in a nuclear reactor core. They require few-group homogenized neutron cross sections for every heterogeneous sub-region of the core. The homogenized cross sections are pre-calculated at various reactor states and represented in a way that facilitates the reconstruction of cross sections at other possible states. In this study a number of such representations were built for the homogenized cross sections of a MOX (mixed oxide) fuel assembly via hierarchical Lagrange interpolation on Clenshaw-Curtis sparse grids. These cross sections were represented as a function of various thermal hydraulic and material composition parameters of a pressurized water reactor core (i.e. burnup, soluble boron concentration, fuel temperature, moderator temperature and moderator density), which are generally referred to as state parameters. Representations were produced for the homogenized cross sections of a number of individual isotopes, as well as the e ective (lumped) cross section of all the materials in the assembly. This was done for both two and six energy groups. Additionally, two sets of state parameter intervals were considered for each of the group structures. The first set of intervals was chosen to correspond to conditions that may be encountered during day-to-day reactor operations. The second set of intervals was chosen to be applicable to the simulation of accident scenarios and therefore have wider ranges for fuel temperature, moderator temperature and moderator density.

Thesis. 1975. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Engineering. / Includes bibliographical references. / M.S.

Thesis. 1976. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Engineering. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Includes bibliographical references. / M.S.

Steam property evaluations may represent a significant portion of the computing time necessary for power system simulations. The iterative nature of the solutions for heat transfer and kinetic equations often requires thousands of steam property evaluations during the execution of a single program. Considerable savings may be realized by simplification of property evaluations. Empirical equations have been obtained for the thermodynamic properties of water in the region of interest. To maintain thermodynamic consistency, the compressibility factor Z, in terms of pressure and temperature, was obtained by curve fitting, and the enthalpy, entropy, and internal energy were derived by standard relationships. Formulations for heat capacity, saturation temperature as a function of saturation pressure, the specific volume of saturated water as a function of saturation pressure, and specific volume of saturated water as a function of the saturation temperature were determined by curve fitting of independent equations. Derivatives were obtained by differentiation of the appropriate formulations. Evaporator and superheater components of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor power plant simulator were chosen as test cases for the empirical representations. Results obtained using the empirical equations were comparable to those obtained using tabular values, but significant savings in computational costs were realized. Execution time for the evaporator program with the empirical forms was approximately 27 percent less than for the program with tables. Execution time for the super-heater program was approximately 23 percent less.

L’étude des conséquences de la réaction sodium-eau (RSE) est un enjeu dans le cadre de la sûreté des futurs réacteurs à neutrons rapides à caloporteur sodium. Afin d'évaluer les conséquences de RSE dans des situations d'accident majeur, il est nécessaire de mieux comprendre la phénoménologie et notamment la quantité d'énergie libérée et la cinétique de libération. L'objectif est donc d’améliorer la compréhension de telles RSE pour prédire au mieux ses conséquences sur les équipements mécaniques alentours. Trois axes de travail ont été privilégiés, à savoir la recherche du déroulement des séquences accidentelles, un examen expérimental paramétrique, et une analyse de la phénoménologie avant le contact explosif. Dans un premier temps, une méthode arborescente d'analyse de risques a été croisée avec des méthodes de calcul d'effets. Cette analyse a permis d’imaginer comment le contact peut s'effectuer. Des études expérimentales démonstratives de l'influence du mode de mise en contact ont ensuite été effectuées afin d’approfondir certains aspects pratiques. L’analyse des nombreuses données recueillies conduit au développement d’un modèle d'interprétation phénoménologique, intégré dans une plateforme de simulation multi-physique. Bien que de nombreuses hypothèses simplificatrices soient réalisées, la prise en compte des transferts de chaleur transitoires permet de reproduire les observations expérimentales et notamment l'influence des conditions de mélange (masse de sodium et températures initiales) sur la phénoménologie. Ce travail d'étude de la phase de pré-mélange de l'explosion sodium-eau est pertinent au regard des méthodes de prédiction des chargements sur les structures. / Study of sodium-water reaction (SWR) consequences in open air represents a challenge in the frame of safety assessments of sodium fast reactors (SFR). In case of major accident and to predict consequences of SWR, it is necessary to better appreciate phenomena and especially quantity and rate of the energy releasement. The objective is thus to strengthen the understanding of such reactions in order to predict with lore accuracy its consequences on mechanical equipment in the surroundings. This work focuses on three areas : research of accidental sequences, experimental investigation, and phenomenological analysis before the explosive contact. At first, a tree structure risk analysis with calculations of dangerous phenomena permitted to suggest how the contact between reactants may happen. Then, demonstrative experimental studies were performed to deepen some practical aspects of the phenomenology, like the influence of the way the reactants get in contact. Data analysis conducted to the development of a phenomenological model, implemented into a software platform for numerical simulations. Although numerous hypothesis, transient heat transfer consideration enables to reproduce experimental observations, especially the influence of mixing conditions (sodium mass and initial temperatures) on the phenomenology. This study of the premixing step of sodium-water explosion is relevant in the frame of current prediction methods of mechanical loadings on structures.