Development and steady state level experimental validation of TASS/SMR core heat transfer model for the integral reactor SMART

An advanced integral pressurized water reactor (PWR) of a small size (∼330 MWt) is being developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The purposes of the reactor are a sea water desalination and an electricity generation. To enhance its safety, many advanced design concepts are introduced such as a passive residual removal system and a low power density core. For the safety validation of the designed reactor, a system analysis code named TASS/SMR, was developed. TASS/SMR code uses a one dimensional node/path modeling for the thermal hydraulic calculation and point kinetics for the core power calculation. The code also has specific models for the developed integral reactor, such as a helical tube heat transfer model and a passive residual heat transfer model. One of the important models for the safety or performance calculation is the core heat transfer model. The core heat transfer model of TASS/SMR was developed to meet the requirements of the 10 CFR 50 appendix K EM model as well as the realistic models. The developed model was validated with experimental data. The results show that the model predicts the heat transfer phenomena in the reactor core with a reasonable conservatism.