One-Region Model Predicting Water Temperature and Level in a Spent Fuel Pit during Loss of All AC Power Supplies

A prediction system with a one-region model was developed to predict water temperature in a spent fuel pit (SFP) after the shutdown of its cooling systems based on three-dimensional (3D) thermal hydraulic behavior calculated by using the CFD software, FLUENT 6.3.26. The system was extended to calculate the water level in the SFP during loss of all AC power supplies. In the prediction system, decay heat calculated by using the burn-up calculation software, ORIGEN 2.2, and the previously proposed correlation for evaporation heat fluxes from the water surface to air were used. Predicted results were compared with 3D calculations and measured temperatures for the shutdown of cooling systems and with the water temperature and level measured in SFPs at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station for loss of all AC power supplies. As a result, the predicted temperatures were found to agree well with the 3D calculations and it was confirmed that ORIGEN 2.2 well predicted decay heat for fuel assemblies with large decay heat which had been taken relatively recently from the shutdown reactor core. However, it was shown that decay heat predicted by ORIGEN 2.2 was overestimated for longtime cooled fuel assemblies with small decay heat and the previously proposed evaporation heat flux correlation overestimated the water temperature in the SFP, too.