Abstract: In the integral test facilities that simulate the accident transient process of the prototype nuclear power plant, the stored energy in the metal components has a direct influence on the simulation range and the test results of the facilities. Based on the heat transfer theory, three methods analyzing the stored energy were developed, and a thorough study on the stored energy problem in the scale-down test facilities was further carried out. The lumped parameter method and power integration method were applied to analyze the transient process of energy releasing and to evaluate the average total energy stored in the reactor pressure vessel of the ACME (advanced core-cooling mechanism experiment) facility, which is now being built in China. The results show that the similarity requirements for such three methods to analyze the stored energy in the test facilities are reduced gradually. Under the condition of satisfying the integral similarity of natural circulation, the stored energy releasing process in the scale-down test facilities can’t maintain exact similarity. The stored energy in the reactor pressure vessel wall of ACME, which is released quickly during the early stage of rapid depressurization of system, will not make a major impact on the long-term behavior of system. And the scaling distortion of integral average total energy of the stored heat is acceptable.