Modelling Molten Fuel Coolant Interaction - Assessment of Size Aspects in Modelling Molten Fuel Coolant Interaction

Severe accidents (SA) in LWR occur when reactor vessel water decreases and there is no available water for cooling the core. During a SA the reactor core could, after partial/total melt down, pour into the lower plenum. The study of the interaction of the melt fuel with the water is the objective of MFCI (Melt Fuel Coolant Interaction) activities. MFCI is an important issue in reactor safety analysis. The SA can lead to energetic (steam explosion) or non-energetic (melt quenching) interactions in-vessel or ex-vessel. FARO facility at JRC-Ispra simulated MFCI experiments under real conditions. Pre-test/post-test analytical activities using the TH COMETA code were carried out. The code was assessed based on FARO tests. Limitations and uncertainties in the application to a full plant needed to be identified and quantified. The research objective was achieved expanding the knowledge in MFCI. It was complemented with application of COMETA to conditions not experimented before, developing and improving COMETA sources and verifying code consistency, analysing and unifying the COMETA simulations. An analytical study was carried out to illustrate the MFCI inside a NPP SA sequence.

PLA FREIXA Patricia; 

2009-12-03

LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing AG & Co. KG

JRC54054

978-3-8383-1108-1,   

www.lap-publishing.com,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC54054,