Iaea's coordinated research projects on thermal hydraulics of fast reactors

A Coordinated Research Project on “Benchmark Analysis of FFTF Loss of Flow Without Scram Test” was launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2018. A series of passive safety tests were conducted from 1980-1992 at the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), 400 MW(th) liquid sodium cooled nuclear test reactor owned by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate the potential of FFTF to survive severe accident initiators with no core damage. Amongst these tests was a series of Loss of Flow Without Scram (LOFWOS) tests from power levels up to 50%, also commonly referred to as Unprotected Loss of Flow (ULOF) tests, which were studied in the IAEA CRP. The data were provided by the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Another Research Coordinated Project on “Benchmark of Transition from Forced to Natural Circulation Experiment with Heavy Liquid Metal Loop” was launched by the IAEA in 2022. Three tests were conducted in 2017 to study the thermal-hydraulic behavior of a test fuel assembly cooled by lead-bismuth eutectic alloy during transition from forced to natural convection at the NACIE-UP facility at Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Italy. This project is the first IAEA CRP that is dedicated to the thermal hydraulics of lead and lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) technology. The paper provides a general overview of the two CRPs within the framework of the IAEA activities on thermal hydraulics of fast reactors.