Three Mile Island revisited

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Mechanical Engineering; (USA)

OSTI ID:5576457

Lipford, B L; Cole, N M; Friderichs, T J ^[1]

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1. MPR Associates Inc., Washington, DC (US)

As a result of the accident in March 1979, the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor vessel sustained significant internal damage. Approximately half of the reactor core suffered some degree of melting, with 10 to 20 tons of molten core material relocating inside the vessel and flowing down onto the reactor vessel's lower head. The resulting damage and the margin to failure of the lower head are of interest to the nuclear industry. In early 1988 the owner and operator of the TMI facility, had completed a large portion of the defueling work in the reactor core region and was preparing to remove the lower structural internals in order to defuel the area within the lower head. At that point the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (NRC-Res) in Washington, D.C., initiated a project to remove metallurgical specimens from the reactor vessel's lower head region. The goal was to determine the extent of damage to the pressure-retaining boundary in the lower head and to learn what happened during the accident.

• OSTI ID: 5576457
• Journal Information: Mechanical Engineering; (USA), Vol. 113:1; ISSN 0025-6501
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
THREE MILE ISLAND-2 REACTOR
FAILURE MODE ANALYSIS
DAMAGE
LOSS OF COOLANT
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTOR VESSELS
ACCIDENTS
CONTAINERS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
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PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
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220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
210200 - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled