What the study found
The study found that the cold-leg LBLOCA, a large-break loss-of-coolant accident in a cold-leg pipe, could be handled by passive safety systems in the SCW-SMR reactor concept. It also found that high-pressure injection was not required, while hot-leg steam blowdown was crucial.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors say the work helps determine the minimum set of safety systems required for this reactor concept. They also present it as part of the comprehensive assessment of the SCW-SMR design developed in the EU ECC-SMART project.
What the researchers tested
The researchers used an Apros system code model of the supercritical-pressure water-cooled small modular reactor, or SCW-SMR. They analyzed the 200% guillotine break of one cold-leg pipeline inside containment and examined cooling and flooding conditions in the reactor vessel flow path.
What worked and what didn't
Across 27 cases, the parameter analysis showed that passive safety systems were sufficient for the cold-leg LBLOCA event. High-pressure injection was not needed, but hot-leg steam blowdown was described as crucial. The abstract also says effective in-vessel heat removal was provided even without low-pressure injection.
What to keep in mind
The summary describes one initiating event in one reactor concept, so the results are limited to this case. The abstract does not provide detailed numeric outcomes, and it does not describe limitations beyond the scope of the 27 analyzed cases.
Key points
- The study examined a cold-leg LBLOCA, a large-break loss-of-coolant accident, in the SCW-SMR concept.
- The authors report that passive safety systems could handle the event.
- High-pressure injection was not required in the analyzed cases.
- Hot-leg steam blowdown was described as crucial.
- Effective in-vessel heat removal was reported even without low-pressure injection.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Passive safety systems handled the cold-leg LBLOCA case
- Authors:
- Tamás Varjú, Attila Aszódi
- Institutions:
- Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-03
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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