An assessment of a VVER-1000 core during Turbo-Generator load reduction test using RELAP5/MOD3.2 and WIMSD-5B/PARCSv2.7

Reactor dynamic tests, which are categorized as one of the power start-up test groups, are the most complex tests during commissioning of the new nuclear power plants. This paper presents the results of Turbo-Generator load reduction test as one of the reactor dynamic tests for VVER-1000/V446 unit at Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). In this test modeling because of the need for control rod bank worth and core reactivity coefficients, the core geometry has been modeled first by using WIMSD-5B/PARCSv2.7 codes for neutronic calculations. For performing the thermal-hydraulic analysis, the RELAP5/MOD3.2 computer code has been used. The control rod bank worth and core reactivity coefficients obtained from WIMSD-5B/PARCSv2.7 are compared with BNPP FSAR that confirm the ability and reliability of the method. Also comparison of the thermal-hydraulic core parameters obtained from RELAP5/MOD3.2 against actual plant data, indicate that this code can properly predict behavior of VVER-1000 reactor for this dynamic start-up test.