Thermo-hydraulic analysis of the windowless target system

Abstract

The target system, whose function is to supply an external neutron source to a subcritical core in order to sustain the neutron chain reaction, is the most critical part of an ADS being subject to severe thermo-mechanical loading and material damage due to accelerator protons and fission neutrons. In order to reduce the material damage and to increase the life of the target system a windowless option was chosen in the framework of the European PDS-XADS project as reference configuration for the experimental ADS cooled by lead–bismuth eutectic alloy. This document deals with the results of the thermo-hydraulic analysis performed with STAR-CD and RELAP5 codes to assess the behaviour of the windowless target system during off-normal operating conditions. It also reports a description of modifications properly implemented in the codes for studying this kind of plant. The windowless target system shows a satisfactory thermo-hydraulic behaviour for the analysed accidents, except for the loss of both pumps without proton beam shut-off and for the beam trips lasting more than 1 s.