RELAP5-3D Analysis of Pressure Perturbation at the Peach Bottom BWR During Low-Flow Stability Tests

Experimental and theoretical studies about the BWR (Boiling Water Reactor) stability have been performed to design a stable core configuration. BWR instabilities can be caused by interdependencies between thermal-hydraulic and reactivity feedback parameters such as the void-coefficient, for example, during a pressure perturbation event. In the present work, the pressure perturbation is considered in order to study in detail this type of transient. To simulate this event, including the strong feedback effects between core neutronic and reactor thermal-hydraulics, and to verify core behavior and evaluate parameters related to safety, RELAP5-3D code has been used in the analyses. The simulation was performed making use of Peach Bottom-2 BWR data to predict the dynamics of a real reactor during this type of event. Stability tests were conducted in the Peach Bottom 2 BWR, in 1977, and were done along the low-flow end of the rated power-flow line, and along the power-flow line corresponding to minimum recirculation pump speed. The calculated results are herein compared against the available experimental data.