1. Basic concepts
1.1 Hydraulic diameter
One of the special features of the nuclear industry, and of the pressurized water reactor (PWR) in particular, lies in the complex geometries of the core, vessel and all reactor components, where water flows in a confined but open environment with high levels of transverse exchange.
A simplified approach commonly used in hydraulics (compared to fluid mechanics) considers unidirectional flows in circular pipes. In order to use for any flow geometry the results of hydraulics established in circular pipes, we use Chézy's formulation which determines an equivalent hydraulic diameter D h taking into account the fluid passage area A and the wetted perimeter
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Basic concepts
Fluid state characterization
Bibliography
Websites
MIT open access course (2007)
Buongiorno, Jacopo. 22.313J Thermal Hydraulics in Power Technology. Spring 2007. Massachusetts Institute of...
Events
NURETH (NUclear REactor THermalhydraulics) conference every two years.
Regulations
Law no. 2006-686 of June 13, 2006 on nuclear transparency and safety (TSN).
Order of February 7, 2012 laying down the general rules governing basic nuclear installations (INB).
Law no. 2015-992 of August 17, 2015 on energy transition for green growth.
ASN Guide No. 22: Design of pressurized waterless reactors (2017).
ASN Guide...
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