HTGR Knowledge Base

Conference Article: HTGR fuel elements operating conditions during accidents with abrupt power raise.

Gorbunov, V.S.; Kiryushin, A.I.; Kuzavkov, N.G.; Sukharev, Yu.P. (Experimental Machine Building Design Bureau, Gorki (USSR))

Abstract

The necessity of the investigations for developing of HTGR fuel elements operability criteria, connected with the specific energy release values and the rates of its change in fuel is demonstrated in the paper on the example of the accident with positive reactivity increase at VGM reactor pebble bed compression as a result of seismic impact. It is shown, that the average fuel enthalpy over the core in this accident with the emergency protection failure may reach approx24 Kj/g U02, and the maximum rate of its increase is about 0.14 Kj/g.s. It considerably exceeds the established limit of fuel enthalpy for LWR fuel elements.

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key words: Gas Cooled Reactor, Nuclear Technology
Reference:
Behaviour of gas cooled reactor fuel under accident conditions. Proceedings of a specialists meeting held in Oak Ridge, 5-8 November 1990
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria). International Working Group on Gas-Cooled Reactors
IWGGCR--25, pp:155-157