RELEVANT THERMALHYDRAULIC ASPECTS OF NEW-GENERATION LWRS

The present paper deals with the evaluation of thermalhydraulic aspect s retained of importance for the assessment of safety of the new gener ation nuclear plants. Following a survey of the reactor concepts propo sed for the future, the attention will be focused toward SBWR, AP-600 and PIUS whose characteristics, under many respects, bound the feature s introduced in the largest part of the new reactors. Expected relevan t phenomena typical of the mentioned plants-will be discussed in the p aper: on this basis a critical overview of the experimental activities planned or in progress is presented and a judgement about the suitabi lity of available computer codes is formulated. Conclusions are drawn in relation to the assessment of the new design proposals from a therm alhydraulic point of view.