Characteristic analysis of natural circulation residual heat removal in small reactor

In order to study the characteristics of small helium-xenon cooled nuclear reactor that only relies on natural circulation to remove residual heat after shutdown, this paper carries out geometric and physical modeling of helium-xenon cooled nuclear reactor, and uses CFD to simulate the process of natural circulation residual heat removal. Variation laws of the hot spot temperature on the surface of fuel cladding and the mass flow of helium-xenon mixed gas under different working conditions are calculated, and the transient characteristics of temperature, flow and other related parameters in the system loop are analyzed. The calculation results show that during the natural circulation residual heat removal process, the overall change trend of the hot spot temperature on the surface of the fuel cladding, the average temperature of the primary coolant and reactor outlet temperature first rises to the highest value and then decreases, and the mass flow of helium-xenon mixed gas shows an exponential decay trend; Increasing the initial mass flow of helium-xenon mixed gas and reducing the residual heat of the reactor core can reduce the maximum hot spot temperature on the surface of the fuel cladding. The relevant research results provide a useful reference for the optimal design of natural circulation residual heat removal of helium-xenon cooled nuclear reactor. © 2022