A SAM system-level model of a generic stable salt reactor has been developed to investigate thermal-hydraulic behavior and safety performance under steady and transient conditions. The model integrates information generated from a reactor physics analysis using PROTEUS and PERSENT, and a computation fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis using STAR-CCM+. A loose, iterative coupling scheme between PROTEUS and SAM is implemented to calculate the equilibrium power and temperature distributions in the steady-state critical core condition. The converged steady-state model is then used in PERSENT to calculate the four reactivity feedback temperature coefficients (Doppler, fuel density, coolant density, and core radial expansion) and kinetic parameters that are needed in SAM to model the temperature feedback effects in transient simulations.

Within the fully enclosed liquid fuel pins, natural convection is the dominant heat transfer mechanism. The STAR-CCM+ model of the fuel pin considers conjugate heat transfer from the liquid fuel salt to the pin cladding and external reactor coolant. The CFD results of the axial and radial temperature profiles are used to empirically determine an effective fuel salt thermal conductivity in the SAM fuel pin model so that the temperatures predicted by the SAM model match as closely as possible the CFD results. In the central region of the fuel pin, the effective thermal conductivity is as high as ~60 times the physical fuel salt thermal conductivity.

The whole-plant SAM model is then used to simulate an unprotected station blackout transient. The results of this simulation showed that the large negative fuel axial expansion reactivity feedback reduces fission power to ~2.4% nominal power. The core is cooled by natural circulation, which removes heat in the core to the emergency heat removal system, and ultimately, to the ambient. However, peak fuel salt and cladding temperatures can potentially reach as high as 1500 K, albeit briefly, if the shutdown mechanism fails to operate.