Fuel Assembly Hydraulic Testing for Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor

摘要

The Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is a ＞225 MWe integral pressurized water reactor (PWR) with all primary components located inside of the reactor vessel. After initial core sizing was performed in 2010, development of the mechanical design of the fuel for this reactor began in 2011; it is based on the proven Robust Fuel Assembly (RFA) technology used in the Westinghouse AP1000® PWR. To ensure the successful operation of the SMR fuel design, planned hydraulic testing included full-scale test assemblies and supports input to the SMR Design Certification submittal to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This paper describes the hydraulic testing performed during the initial fuel assembly design phase. The hydraulic test of interest for this paper is the grid-to-rod fretting wear test that was performed. This test addressed one of the major failure mechanisms for PWR fuel. This hydraulic testing took place in the existing Westinghouse test loop that is used to test existing and future fuel designs. To perform this test, two full-scale test assemblies of the SMR fuel design were manufactured. The test conditions simulated SMR reactor operation to confirm acceptable performance of the fuel design.