Pressure loss coefficient and flow rate of side hole in a lower end plug for dual-cooled annular nuclear fuel

Dual-cooled annular nuclear fuel for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) has been introduced for a significant increase in reactor power. KAERI has been developing a dual-cooled annular fuel for a power uprate of 20% in an optimized PWR in Korea, the OPR1000. This annular fuel can help decrease the fuel temperature substantially relative to conventional cylindrical fuel at a power uprate. Annular fuel has dual flow channels around itself; however, the inner flow channel has a weakness in that it is isolated unlike the outer flow channel, which is open to other neighbouring outer channels for a coolant exchange in the reactor core. If the entrance of the inner channel is, as a hypothetical event, completely blocked by debris, the inner channel will then experience a rapid increase in coolant temperature such that a departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) may occur. Therefore, a remedy to avoid such a postulated accident is indispensable for the safety of annular fuel. A lower end plug with side flow holes was suggested to provide alternative flow paths in addition to the central entrance of the inner channel. In this paper, the inlet loss coefficient of the lower end plug and the flow rate through the side holes were estimated from the experimental results even in a complete entrance blockage of the inner channel. An optimization for the side hole was also performed, and the results are applied to a subchannel analysis to evaluate the consequence in the reactor core condition.