Hydrogen Explosion Analysis for Cold Source Installation at the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Abstract

Installation of a cold neutron source in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) involved introduction of pressurized, cryogenic hydrogen into the facility and created explosion hazards to reactor safety-related equipment and personnel. Evaluation of potential hydrogen releases and facility/personnel consequences as a result of explosions was a key part of the safety analyses submitted to the DOE to obtain approval for testing and operation with hydrogen. This paper involves a description of the various hydrogen release and explosion consequence analyses that were performed. The range of explosion calculations involved (1) a detonation analysis using a 2D-transient CTH code model, (2) various BLAST/FX code models to estimate structural damage from equivalent point TNT sources, (3) a BLASTX code model to propagate shock and gas flow overpressures from a point TNT source, (4) a spreadsheet that combined a TNT-quivalence model and strong deflagration methods, and (5) a hydrogen jet model to evaluate potential high pressure jet releases.