Post-test analysis of the RPV lower head leak experiment at the INKA test facility using ATHLET

The KERENA reactor with 1,250 MW electrical power is an evolutionary boiling-water reactor (BWR) concept jointly developed by AREVA GmbH and PreussenElektra GmbH. It is a Generation III+ reactor with innovative passive safety systems such as emergency and containment cooling condenser, core flooding system and pressure pulse transmitter (PPPT) to complement the safety concept of a BWR. One design goal of the KERENA reactor concept is, that in case of an accident the core can be cooled for at least 72 hours by passive safety systems only. The INKA test facility at AREVA in Karlstein was built to investigate the heat removal capabilities and the interaction of the passive safety systems and components of the KERENA concept during different accidental scenarios. This test facility represents the KERENA main components like RPV, flooding and pressure suppression pool, drywell and shielding/storage pool, emergency condenser and containment cooling condenser at a sophisticated geometrical and power scaling. In summer 2017 at the INKA test facility a feed water line break, a leak at the lower head of the RPV and a station blackout were experimentally simulated to investigate the integral plant behaviour and the designated safety functions of each single passive component. An existing ATHLET input deck of the INKA test facility, which was already validated against the INKA experiment of a main steam line break, was extended by a PPPT model and the break lines for the loss of coolant experiments. Pre- and post-test calculations for the “leak at the lower head of the RPV” experiment were conducted to assess and validate the input deck. The experiment has shown that the passive safety systems are capable to remove the decay heat and the core flooding system was also triggered in this accident sequence. Comparing the ATHLET simulations with the experimental data, some deviations were found, which are currently being investigated and treated by ATHLET input data adjustments.