Development of the neutronic module and benchmark and validation of the thermal-hydraulic module of the FRENETIC code

FRENETIC code has been developed by POLITO for the dynamic simulation of LFR cores with closed hexagonal fuel elements at a reduced computational cost, suitable for parametric evaluations and simulations of safety-related transients. The code separately solves the neutronic and thermal-hydraulic model equations, with neutronic/thermal-hydraulic feedback introduced through a coupling procedure. The work reported on the report has been focused on two main topics: 1) validation of the thermal-hydraulic module performing various benchmark exercises (activity performed in collaboration between POLITO and ENEA), and 2) extension of the capabilities of the neutronic module to include the quasi-static method demonstrating the new functionality of the code with example scenarios, one of which includes thermal-hydraulic feedback.