Assessment of CHF characteristics at subcooled conditions for the CANFLEX bundle

Abstract Boiling-Length-Average (BLA) Critical Heat Flux (CHF) values for the CANFLEX 1 bundle at cross-sectional average subcooled conditions have been evaluated using the ASSERT-PV subchannel code. The predicted BLA CHF values supplement experimental BLA CHF values obtained with full-scale bundle simulators at saturated conditions in developing a BLA CHF correlation applicable over the interested range of cross-sectional average thermodynamic quality in regional overpower protection (ROP) trip and safety analyses. The BLA CHF correlation exhibits similar characteristics to those observed in tubes at subcooled and saturated conditions. Applying this correlation has led to similar prediction accuracy in dryout power to that using the BLA CHF-data-based correlation at saturated conditions. However, it provides improved prediction accuracy in dryout power at dryout conditions near saturation compared to the BLA CHF-data-based correlation (which tends to underpredict the dryout power).