Validation of severe accident codes against Phebus FP for plant applications: status of the PHEBEN2 project

• Published in: Nuclear engineering and design Vol. 221; no. 1; pp. 225 - 240
• Main Authors: Jones, A.V, Dickinson, S, de Pascale, C, Hanniet, N, Herranz, L, De Rosa, F, Henneges, G, Langhans, J, Housiadas, C, Wichers, V, Birchley, J, Paci, S, Martin-Fuertes, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-04-2003
• Subjects: European Union
• ISSN: 0029-5493; 1872-759X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0029-5493(02)00340-0

The European Commission-funded shared-cost action project PHEBEN2 brings together 13 partner organisations to understand the source term aspects of the integral Phebus FP experiments, to validate integral LWR severe accident codes against the test data, to develop and apply criteria regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the codes for plant applications, and to propose guidelines for their optimum use for this purpose. At the half-way point of the project, contributions to the final interpretation report of the first Phebus test FPT0 have been completed and work on the interpretation of the following test is proceeding. A detailed investigation by CFD and particle tracking appears to have identified the cause of the systematic underprediction of deposition in the steam generator tube of the Phebus circuit. Containment calculations using lumped-parameter codes have been supplemented by extensive CFD analyses, revealing complex circulation patterns within the relatively simple containment geometry of Phebus. Iodine chemistry studies have been made of both FPT0 and FPT1. Concerning criteria and code assessment for plant applications, a short list of safety-important phenomena explored in Phebus has been prepared, and partners have drafted a report analysing for each phenomenon its safety importance, the experimental data available, the modelling approach adopted in PSA codes, and the expected uncertainties.