Expected Safety Performance of the Supercritical Water Reactor Fuel Qualification Test

Abstract

The supercritical water reactor (SCWR) fuel qualification test is an inpile test of a fourrod fuel assembly at supercritical pressure inside a research reactor, which is operated at atmospheric pressure. The risk of radioactive release from this new test facility should not exceed the accepted risk of the existing research reactor. A large number of safety analyses have been performed to assess this risk, which are summarized in this paper. Among them are studies of design basis accidents, assuming different failure modes of the highpressure system, as well as an assessment of consequences of postulated accidents beyond the design basis. Results show that the safety objectives can be met.