NEA-1746 ZZ-PBMR-400.

1. NAME OR DESIGNATION:  ZZ-PBMR-400.

3. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM OR FUNCTION

This international benchmark, concerns Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) coupled neutronics/thermal hydraulics transients based on the PBMR-400MW design. The deterministic neutronics, thermal-hydraulics and transient analysis tools and methods available to design and analyse PBMRs lag, in many cases, behind the state of the art compared to other reactor technologies. This has motivated the testing of existing methods for HTGRs but also the development of more accurate and efficient tools to analyse the neutronics and thermal-hydraulic behaviour for the design and safety evaluations of the PBMR. In addition to the development of new methods, this includes defining appropriate benchmarks to verify and validate the new methods in computer codes.
  
The scope of the benchmark is to establish well-defined problems, based on a common given set of cross sections, to compare methods and tools in core simulation and thermal hydraulics analysis with a specific focus on transient events through a set of multi-dimensional computational test problems.
  
The benchmark exercise has the following objectives:
  
- Establish a standard benchmark for coupled codes (neutronics/thermal-hydraulics) for PBMR design
- Code-to-code comparison using a common cross section library
- Obtain a detailed understanding of the events and the processes
- Benefit from different approaches, understanding limitations and approximations
  
Major Design and Operating Characteristics of the PBMR:

- F.Reitsma, K.Ivanov, T.Downar, H.de Haas, S.Sen, G.Strydom, R.Mphahlele,
B.Tyobeka, V.Seker, H.D.Gougar, H.C.Lee:
PBMR Coupled Neutronics/Thermal Hydraulics Transient Benchmark The PBMR-400
Core Design, Benchmark Definition, Draft V07, to be published by OECD

15. NAME AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORS

Frederik Reitsma
Reactor Design and Fuel Management Group Leader
PBMR Pty Ltd
PO Box 9396
0046 CENTURION
South Africa
  
This information is restricted to benchmark participants.

Records of meetings
*******************
-Proceedings of the first workshop (PBMRT1)
-Summary of the First workshop, Paris, 16-17 June 2005 (PBMRT1)
-Proposed Agenda for Ad-hoc meeting, Avignon, 13 September 2005 (PBMRT1.5)
-Proposed Agenda for  Second workshop (PBMRT2) OECD/NEA Issy les Moulineaux,
France, 26-27 January 2006
-Update concerning the Benchmark (20 October 2006)
-Proceedings of the second workshop (PBMRT2)
-Summary of the Second Workshop, Issy les Moulineaux, France, 26-27 January 2006

-Proceedings of the third workshop (PBMRT3)
-Summary of the Third Workshop, Issy les Moulineaux, France , 1-2 February 2007

-Proceedings of the fourth workshop (PBMRT4)
-Summary of the Fourth Workshop, OECD/NEA Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, 21-25
January 2008
-Proceedings of the fifth workshop (PBMRT5)
-Summary of the Fifth Workshop, Kongresszentrum, Interlaken, Switzerland, 14
September 2008
  
Benchmark Specification
***********************
-Updated Benchmark specifications document Draft V07 (dated 20 June 2007)
-The Simplified Cross Section Set: 'OECD-PBMR400-Simplified.XS'
-Decay Heat Values (12 December 2006)
-The multi-dimensional interpolation routine 'lint5d.for'
-Sample Excel spreadsheets to report results for steady-states and transient
cases (21 June 2007)
  
Latest comparisons of results of the PBMR-400 benchmark (update: 14 September
2008)
*****************************************************************************
-PBMR-400 Exercise 1 comparison sheets
-PBMR-400 Exercise 2 comparison sheets
-PBMR-400 Exercise 3 and Transient Cases comparison templates
-Updated library description (Section 7 from the specification)(14 November
2006)
-Cross section library OECD-PBMR400 (21 June 2007) - Only change is in 1/v data
of void areas - was zero - now a typical value is included
-Results used in the comparisons for the 3rd workshop (PBMRT3) held on 1-2 Feb.
2007 (6 June 2007)
  
Action List
***********
-Update of actions and solutions on Task list / Outstanding issues - PBMRT5
meeting (14 September 2008)