Research of the Rod Drop Time Based on the Control Rod System of TMSR-SF1

The reactor scram function realized by the rapidly dropping of control rods ensures safety when the reactor accidents (loss of electricity and earthquake, etc.) happen. In the thorium base molten salt reactor (TMSR - SF1), the rod drop time is obviously affected by the resistance which produced in the molten salt as its high density and viscosity. In this paper, the drop time of the control rod is obtained by the theoretical and experimental methods for comparison. Firstly, the drop time is analyzed both in air and water condition with calculation and experiment. And the method used for the resistance calculation of the rod during dropping is verified. Secondly, the similarity criterion is adopted to calculate the drop time in molten salt condition. The study shows that: 1) In air and water condition, the calculation is coincidence with the experimental results within the maximum error less than 2 %. 2) The drop time of the rod in molten salt is 2.8 s with a dropping height 2.4m in reactor, which satisfy the safety requirement of the control system. 3) It is necessary to use another buffer beside the disc spring to protect the driving mechanism of the rod during the rod dropping.