The Integral Test Facility Karlstein (INKA) test facility was designed and erected to test the performance of the passive safety systems of KERENA, the new AREVA Boiling Water Reactor design. The experimental program included single component/system tests of the Emergency Condenser, the Containment Cooling Condenser and the Passive Core Flooding System. Integral system tests, including also the Passive Pressure Pulse Transmitter, will be performed to simulate transients and Loss of Coolant Accident scenarios at the test facility. The INKA test facility represents the KERENA Containment with a volume scaling of 1？:？24. Component heights and levels are in full scale. The reactor pressure vessel is simulated by the accumulator vessel of the large valve test facility of Karlstein—a vessel with a design pressure of 11？MPa and a storage capacity of 125？m3. The vessel is fed by a benson boiler with a maximum power supply of 22？MW. The INKA multi compartment pressure suppression Containment meets the requirements of modern and existing BWR designs. As a result of the large power supply at the facility, INKA is capable of simulating various accident scenarios, including a full train of passive systems, starting with the initiating event—for example pipe rupture. 1. Introduction The KERENA is a medium-capacity boiling water reactor (BWR). It combines passive safety systems with active safety equipment of service-proven design. The passive systems utilize basic laws of physics, such as gravity and natural convection, enabling them to function without electric power or actuation by electric instrumentation and control (I&C) equipmentThey are designed to bring the plant to a safe and stable condition without the aid of active systems. Furthermore, the passive safety features reduce the number of active systems, significantly reducing costs, while providing a safe, reliable, and economically competitive plant design [1, 2]. The Integral Test Facility Karlstein (INKA) test facility was designed and erected to experimentally analyze the passive safety systems of KERENA. Therefore, all passive safety features necessary to simulated accident scenarios (loss of coolant accident [LOCA] and non-LOCA) are included in the design. The following section gives a brief description of these passive systems. The INKA setup simulates the KERENA Containment in a 1？:？24 scale. Component size and levels are full scale in order to match the driving forces for natural circulation in systems. The steam accumulator vessel of the large valve test facility in Karlstein represents the reactor
References
[1]
Brosche and J. Mattern, “The BWR 1000—an advanced boiling water reactor with medium power,” VGB Power Tech 11/99.
[2]
Z. Stosic, W. Brettschuh, and U. Stoll, “Boiling water reactor with innovative safety concept: the Generation III+ SWR 1000,” Nuclear Engineering and Design, vol. 238, no. 8, pp. 1863–1901, 2008.
[3]
M. Huggenberger, C. Aubert, T. Bandurski, J. Dreier, H. J. Strassberger, and G. Yadigaroglu, “ESBWR related passive decay heat removal test in PANDA,” in Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-7), Tokyo, Japan, April 1999.
[4]
M. Huggenberger, C. Aubert, J. Dreier, O. Fischer, H. J. Strassberger, and G. Yadigaroglu, “New passive decay heat removal test in PANDA,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-7), San Diego, Calif, USA, May 1998.
[5]
M. Ishii, H. J. Yoon, Y. Xu, and S. T. Revankar, “Modular simplified boiling water reactor design with passive safety systems,” in Proceedings of the International Atomic Energy Agency Meeting (IAEA '05), 2005.
[6]
G. Yadigaroglu, “Scaling of SBWR related tests,” GE, NEDC-32288, 1994.
[7]
R. Hamazaki, et al., “The enhanced severe accident mitigation systems for a BWR,” in Proceedings of the 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-13), Kanazawa City, Japan, September 2009.
[8]
Y. Kojima, K. Arai, T. Kurita et al., “Performance of horizontal U-tube type passive containment cooling system in a BWR,” in International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP '10), pp. 1135–1142, San Diego, Calif, USA, June 2010.
[9]
K. B Welter, S. M. Bajorek, and J. Reyes, “APEX-AP1000 confirmatory testing to support AP1000 design certification,” United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission number NUREG-1826, 2005.
[10]
J. N. Reyes, J. T. Groome, A. Y. Lafi, D. Wachs, and C. Ellis, “PTS thermal hydraulic testing in the OSU APEX facility,” International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping, vol. 78, no. 2-3, pp. 185–196, 2001.
[11]
A.Y. Lafi and J. N. Reyes, “Two-inch cold leg break tests in APEX and ROSA/AP600 comparative study,” in Proceedings of the 9th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-9), San Francisco, Calif, USA, October 1999.
[12]
D. E. Bessette and M. Di Marzo, “Transition from depressurization to long term cooling in AP600 scaled integral test facilities,” Nuclear Engineering and Design, vol. 188, no. 3, pp. 331–344, 1999.
[13]
R. F. Wright, “Simulated AP1000 response to design basis small-break LOCA events in the APEX-1000 test facility,” Nuclear Engineering and Technology, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 287–299, 2007.
[14]
G. Bianconi and M. Rigamonti, “Scaling, design,and verification of SPES-2,” Westinghouse Corporation, Piacenza, Italy, WCAP-13277 Rev.1., 1992.
[15]
S. Leyer, M. Wich, and H. Schafer, “SWR 1000 integral and full scale tests of the passive safety systems,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP '08), pp. 87–92, Anaheim, Calif, USA, June 2008.
[16]
S. Leyer, F. Maisberger, B. Schaub et al., “Full scale steady state component tests of the SWR 1000 fuel pool cooler at the INKA test facility,” in Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of Nucluar Technology, Dresden, Germany, May 2009.
[17]
S. Leyer, F. Maisberger, V. Herbst, M. Doll, M. Wich, and T. Wagner, “Status of the full scale component testing of the KERENA emergency condenser and containment cooling condenser,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP '10), p. 5, San Diego, Calif, USA, June 2010.
[18]
T. Wagner, M. Wich, M. Doll, V. Herbst, and S. Uhrig, “Tests with the emergency condenser at the integral test stand Karlstein for KERENA,” in Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of Nucluar Technology, Berlin, Germany, May 2010.
[19]
T. Wagner, M. Wich, M. Doll, and S. Leyer, “Full scale tests with the passive core flooding system and the emergency condenser at the integral test stand Karlstein for KERENATM,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP '10), Nice, France, May 2011.
