TVA CASL Test Stand – Evaluation of Lower Plenum Flow Anomaly Using VERA/Hydra-TH

Project Description

TVA is a core partner of the CASL project, having provided information on physical reactor design and data related to commercial nuclear plant and nuclear fuel operations. Application of the VERA code suite to the LPFA phenomenon at Watts Bar will provide testing and validation of the Hydra-TH models for reactor applications and also demonstrate application of VERA by the commercial nuclear industry.

This project will benefit TVA by providing a science-based evaluation of the Lower Plenum Flow Anomaly at the Watts Bar nuclear plant. Understanding this phenomenon will help TVA better predict core power distributions, which in turn would allow relaxation of operating restrictions associated with LPFA, resulting in increased generation capability and/or lower costs for TVA.