Triggering phenomena in hemispherically confined molten Sn
- Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
When a severe accident occurs in a nuclear power plant, there is a possibility that the molten core could drop into the reactor cavity room under the pressure vessel. In some cases, a large vapor explosion may occur due to a violent thermal interaction between the molten core and the water in the cavity. This means that the integrity of the containment vessel may fail to some extent. In order to clarify the basic characteristics of the triggering stage, in vapor explosions, experiments were carried out by dropping a hemispherical SUS crucible containing 100g of molten tin, which qualitatively simulates a molten mass with a crusted side and bottom. Molten tin-water interactions were observed just after the entrapped air bubble separated, or just after the crucible struck the bottom. When the initial temperature of the molten tin was relatively low (573 K to 673 K), the interaction frequently occurred in the former condition. When the initial temperature of the molten tin was relatively, high (773 K to 973 K), the interaction always occurred in the latter condition. In the present experiment, the mass fraction of tin debris less than 100 {micro}m in size, which is regarded as an indicator of the intensity of the interaction, was seven times as large as that in the previous experiment directly dropping the molten tin into the water. This result indicates that confinement of the molten metal could cause triggering phenomena to be propagative in some cases.
- OSTI ID:
- 271927
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960306-; ISBN 0-7918-1226-X; TRN: 96:017235
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ICONE 4: ASME/JSME international conference on nuclear engineering, New Orleans, LA (United States), 10-13 Mar 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of ICONE-4: Proceedings. Volume 1 -- Part B: Basic technological advances; Rao, A.S. [ed.] [General Electric Nuclear Energy, San Jose, CA (United States)]; Duffey, R.B. [ed.] [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)]; Elias, D. [ed.] [Commonwealth Edison, Downers Grove, IL (United States)]; PB: 564 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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