Coupled 3D Neutronics/thermal-Hydraulics Analysis of Superphénix Start-Up Tests with DYN3D/ATHLET Code System

The capabilities of the DYN3D/ATHLET coupled code system were recently extended to allow for 3D neutron kinetics/thermal hydraulics analyses of Sodium cooled Fast Reactors at reactor system level. In this paper, the DYN3D/ATHLET coupled code system was applied to analyze the Superphenix reactor transient benchmark. The benchmark comprises six operational transients initiated during the SPX reactor start-up tests, covering a wide range of reactor operating states. The peculiarity of these transients is the necessity to consider thermal expansions of major structural elements of the primary system, which significantly influence the transient position of control rods in the core. The paper includes a brief summary of the benchmark specifications, description of the neutron kinetics and thermal hydraulics models, an analysis of the simulation results, and a comparison to the experimental data.