Scott Krepel
Reactor System Engineer
One
of the most important safety questions in a nuclear power plant is: Can
you cool the very hot nuclear fuel in an accident when normal cooling
is disrupted? The scientific field best equipped to answer this question
is called “thermal hydraulics.”
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The
first part of the term, “thermal,” relates to heat transfer, such as
the movement of heat from the burner on a stove to the water in a pot
via the metal of the pot. The second part, “hydraulic,” relates to the
flow of a fluid such as water. The combination, “thermal hydraulics,”
can be applied to systems where both the flow of fluid and the transfer
of heat are important – such as a nuclear power plant.
I work in the NRC’s
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research as
part of a team dedicated to expanding our understanding of thermal
hydraulics and applying that understanding in nuclear power plant
safety. Over time, we’ve put much effort into incorporating existing
knowledge into the NRC’s thermal hydraulics computer simulation program,
TRACE. This program allows NRC staff to construct computer models of
the cooling systems of a nuclear power plant and then simulate accidents
such as pipe breaks (but not wildly improbable events such as the
considerable destruction caused near the end of a typical superhero
action movie).
TRACE
is constantly being pushed to become more accurate, reliable and
versatile. Universities and test facilities around the world are
conducting experiments and accident simulations to collect real-world
data that can be used to determine TRACE’s ability to accurately predict
specific phenomena. We use the outcomes to update the program as needed
to make it more accurate and to better capture certain phenomena.
Sometimes,
new safety issues may result in further investigation of certain
scenarios and further evolution of TRACE. Ultimately, the goal of this
work within the research arm of the NRC is to continuously expand our
understanding of situations which may impact the cooling of the nuclear
fuel. This knowledge can then be used to ensure that the public and the
environment are protected in the unlikely event of an accident at an
U.S. nuclear power plant.
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