Analysis of HFIR pressurizer pump overspeed transients and relief valve performance

The pressurizer pump overspeed transients at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) fall in the category of {open_quotes}increase in coolant inventory transients.{close_quotes} They are among the accident transients to be performed for Chapter 15 of the HFIR safety analysis report (SAR). The pressurizer pump speed starting to increase inadvertently to reach its maximum speed of 3,560 rpm while the reactor operates under normal conditions is the cause of this transient. Increased primary coolant system pressure due to increased pressurizer pump flow into the primary coolant head tank challenges the relief valves to open. If the relief valves do not open, increased primary coolant system pressure will challenge the integrity of the high pressure boundary. Two sets of analyses were performed to analyze the pressurizer pump overspeed transients. The purpose of the first analysis is to estimate how long it will take for the relief valves to open under different conditions and whether or not they will chatter or flutter for a considerable amount of time. The analysis estimates relief valve performance and stability using four different relief valve subsystem models. The relief valve subsystem models are not attached to the primary coolant system model. Vigorous pressure oscillations were produced in all of the computations performed as part of the first analysis. The second analysis includes new simulations of the pressurizer pump overspeed transients that were previously simulated using the RELAP5 thermal-hydraulic computer code. The HFIRSYS, High Flux Isotope Reactor System Transient Analysis computer code, was utilized for these simulations providing referable results for comparisons. The increased pressurizer pump flow due to runaway pressurizer pump speed pressurizes the primary coolant system. The assumptions were made in such a way to form constraining conditions at initiation of and during the transients to generate as high an overpressure situation as possible.