Currently, a large number of experimental setups (facilities) for studying thermal-hydraulic processes in spent fuel pools (SFPs) are developed around the world; the experimental French MIDI facility constructed within the framework of the DENOPI Project can, in particular, be regarded as one of such facilities. It is intended for simulating the initial stage of an accident in a PWR type reactor SPF. For validating the analysis models, European scientists have carried out three experiments on this facility for three configurations of spent fuel pool charges. In this study, for carrying out subsequent thermal-hydraulic calculations based on the performed experiments, the KORSAR/GP computer code certified for safety analysis was used, which made it possible to simulate heat fluxes and hydrodynamics in different parts of the MIDI experimental facility. The activities on applying this code included the development of analysis diagrams describing the flow pass channels and heat conducting structurers for each component of the facility, which made it possible to take into account the key aspects of heat transfer in the spent fuel pool considered. The calculation results have shown a linear growth of temperature and a water level variation, features confirming an adequate behavior of the analysis model. The data obtained can serve for substantiating the possibility of applying the developed model for analyzing accident conditions associated with loss of cooling in SFPs. The results of calculations carried out using the KORSAR/GP code have for the first time been compared with the experimental data obtained on the MIDI experimental facility. The developers of similar thermal-hydraulic codes in other countries also actively conduct similar investigations.
Moisin et al. (Wed,) studied this question.