scholarly journals Direct containment heating experiments in Zion Nuclear Power Plant geometry using prototypic materials

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.L. Binder ◽  
L.M. McUmber ◽  
B.W. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Direct Containment Heating

Onset of Gas Blowthrough During Melt Expulsion From a Hole in a RPV: Numerical Analysis Using the SIMMER Code

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Kretzschmar
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Severe Accident ◽  
Core Material ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Computer Codes ◽  
Direct Containment Heating ◽  
Heating Up

In the case of a severe accident in a nuclear power plant there is a residual risk, that the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) does not withstand the thermal attack of the molten core material, of which the temperature can be about 3000 K. For the analysis of the processes governing melt dispersal and heating up of the containment atmosphere of a nuclear power plant in the case of such an event, it is important to know the time of the onset of gas blowthrough during the melt expulsion through the hole in the bottom of the RPV. In the test facility DISCO-C (Dispersion of Simulant Corium-Cold) at the FZK /6/, experiments were performed to furnish data for modeling Direct Containment Heating (DCH) processes in computer codes that will be used to extrapolate these results to the reactor case. DISCO-C models the RPV, the Reactor Coolant System (RCS), cavity and the annular subcompartments of a large European reactor in a scale 1:18. The liquid type, the initial liquid mass, the type of the driving gas and the size of the hole were varied in these experiments. We present results for the onset of the gas blowthrough that were reached by numerical analysis with the Multiphase-Code SIMMER. We compare the results with the experimental results from the DISCO-C experiments and with analytical correlations, given by other authors.

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