Ricerc@Sapienza

CIRCE is a lead–bismuth eutectic alloy (LBE) pool facility aimed to simulate the primary system of a heavy liquid metal (HLM) cooled pool-type fast reactor. The experimental facility was implemented with a new test section, called HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes), which consists of a steam generator composed of seven double-wall bayonet tubes (DWBT) with an active length of six meters. The experimental campaign aims to investigate HERO behavior, which is representative of the tubes that will compose ALFRED SG.

The Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator (ALFRED) was conceived in the framework of the LEADER (Lead-cooled European Advanced DEmonstration Reactor) project since 2010. Recently, a revised concept of the Reactor Coolant System (RCS) is ongoing to solve some identified issues such as thermal stratification and others. To verify the improvements of the ALFRED design the authors developed a detailed nodalization scheme of the reactor using RELAP5-3D© code.

Before the final shutdown of the PHÉNIX fast reactor, the CEA carried out a final set of experimental tests to gather data and additional knowledge on relevant sodium fast reactors (SFR) operation and safety aspects. One of these experiments conducted was the dissymmetrical configuration test, which was selected as benchmark transient within the H2020 SESAME project. ENEA and Sapienza University of Rome are participating in the benchmark using the RELAP5-3D# code. The thermal hydraulic analysis focuses on adequate core cooling prediction in accidental scenario.