EAC - European Accident Code

ONE ASPECT OF FAST REACTOR SAFETY ANALYSIS CONSISTS OF CALCULATING THE STRONGLY COUPLED SYSTEM OF PHYSICAL PHENOMENA WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE REACTIVITY BALANCE IN HYPOTHETICAL WHOLE-CORE ACCIDENTS: THESE PHENOMENA ARE NEUTRONICS, FUEL BEHAVIOUR AND HEAT TRANSFER TOGETHER WITH COOLANT THERMO-HYDRAULICS IN SINGLE- AND TWO-PHASE FLOW. TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS IN FUEL, COOLANT AND NEIGHBOURING STRUCTURES INDUCE, IN FACT,THERMAL REACTIVITY FEEDBACKS WHICH ARE ADDED UP AND PUT IN THE NEUTRONICS CALCULATION TO PREDICT THE NEUTRON FLUX AND THE SUBSEQUENT HEAT GENERATION IN THE REACTOR. AT THIS POINT A WHOLE-CORE ANALYSIS CODE IS NECESSARY TO EXAMINE FOR ANY HYPOTHETICAL TRANSIENT WHETHER THE VARIOUS FEEDBACKS RESULT EFFECTIVELY IN A NEGATIVE BALANCE, WHICH IS THE BASIC CONDITION TO ENSURE STABILITY AND SAFETY. THE EUROPEAN ACCIDENT CODE (EAC), DEVELOPED AT THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE OF THE CEC AT ISPRA (ITALY), FULFILS THIS OBJECTIVE. IT IS A MODULAR INFORMATICS STRUCTURE (QUASI 2-D MULTICHANNEL APPROACH) AIMED AT COLLECTING STAND-ALONE COMPUTER CODES OF NEUTRONICS, FUEL PIN MECHANICS AND HYDRODYNAMICS DEVELOPED BOTH IN NATIONAL LABORATORIES AND JRC. EAC MAKES THESE MODULES INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER AND PRODUCES RESULTS FOR THESE HYPOTHETICAL ACCIDENTS IN TERMS OF CORE DAMAGE AND TOTAL ENERGY RELEASE.

CLUSAZ Alberto;  NGUYEN Hung;  SOLA Alain;  VAN GOETHEM Goerges; 

1995-03-15

European Commission

JRC4067

EUR 10128 EN,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC4067,