Integral Circulation Experiment: Thermal-Hydraulic Simulator of a LFR Primary System

In the frame of the Programmatic Agreement (AdP) between the Italian Ministry of the Economic Development (MSE) and ENEA, the Experimental Engineering Technical Unit (UTIS) of Brasimone is strongly involved in the domain LP3 focused on the Generation IV Innovative Reactor. This domain foresees, in synergy with the domain DEMETRA in the frame of IP-EUROTRANS, a large-scale tests to characterise a relevant portion of a LFR/ADS reactor block (core, internals, heat exchanger) and qualify a prototypical decay heat removal (DHR) heat exchanger, both in steady state than in transient and accidental conditions. To achieve the goals above mentioned, an integrai circutation experiment (ICE) aiming to reproduce the primary flow path of a LFR/ADS pool-type nuclear reactor has been designed and implemented, and an appropriate test section has been designed to be installed in the CIRCE faciiity. The paper reports a description of the experiment, the designed test section and an overview of the its main components (Heat Source, Heat Exchanger) as well as the experimental activities carried out in support to design of the ICE by the NACIE loop facility. Finaily, the preliminary experimental results carried out in the first experimental campaign run on the CIRCE pool are reported.