KERNTECHNIK, cilt.63, ss.267-272, 1998 (SCI-Expanded)
The aim of this study is to generate experimental data for sensitivity analysis and assessment calculations on the thermal-hydraulic codes written for LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident) analysis of research reactors with MTR-type (plate-type) fuel elements An instrumented fuel element, which has five thermocouples along the vertical direction of the fuel plate, was used for the experiments. A cei tain burn-lip level was leached by irradiating this fuel element for one week in a TR-2 Reactor core, at 5 MW(th) power. After a certain cooling time, the instrumented fuel element was inserted inside a lend-shielded container and withdrawn fi om the pool. Plate temperatures were measured while it was ail cooled by means of natural convection. The THEAP-I, single phase transient 3-dimensional thermal-hydraulic code was selected for the sensitivity analysis Three experiments were performed for different cooling times and comparisons were made between the experimental and theoretical results. As a result of this study, it could be verified that THEAP-I is a reliable computer program for LOCA analysis of research reactors with plate-type (MTR) fuel elements, but special attention must be given to the fact that, for a given fuel element, a significant portion of the decay heat is generated on the outside of the fuel element and the percentage of this portion changes with the duration of the cooling time.