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Project

The Analysis of Thermal Hydraulic Phenomena in the MYRRHA Heavy Liquid-Metal Pool-type Reactor in Forced and Natural Circulation

SCK•CEN, the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, is at the forefront of Heavy Liquid Metal nuclear technology worldwide with the development of the MYRRHA Accelerator Driven System. MYRRHA is an innovative flexible fast-spectrum pool-type research reactor cooled by Lead Bismuth Eutectic.

The use of passive systems to achieve safety functions is one of the guiding principles of the MYRRHA design and safety approach. Natural circulation in the primary system is the chosen option in terms of decay heat removal. The demonstration that this is viable, is indispensable.

The understanding of the thermal hydraulic phenomena occurring in the upper and lower plena of the reactor pool is a critical issue in the design process. A good knowledge of convection patterns, thermal mixing and stratification in operational and accidental conditions is absolutely necessary.

The objective of the PhD is to investigate the thermal hydraulic behavior of a heavy-liquid metal pool-type reactor such as MYRRHA, on the basis of experiments in a scaled liquid metal facility.

Date:3 Oct 2016 →  3 Oct 2020
Keywords:thermal hydraulics, nuclear reactor, liquid metal
Disciplines:Electrical power engineering, Energy generation, conversion and storage engineering, Thermodynamics, Mechanics, Mechatronics and robotics, Manufacturing engineering, Safety engineering
Project type:PhD project