Direct containment heating experiments in Zion Nuclear Power Plant geometry using prototypic materials
Direct Containment Heating (DCH) experiments have been completed which utilize prototypic core materials. The experiments reported on here are a continuation of the Integral Effects Testing (IET) DCH program. The experiments incorporated a 1/40 scale model of the Zion Nuclear Power Plant containment structures. The model included representations of the primary system volume, RPV lower head, cavity and instrument tunnel, and the lower containment structures. The experiments were steam driven. Iron-alumina thermite with chromium was used as a core melt stimulant in the earlier IET experiments. These earlier IET experiments at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) provided useful data on the effect of scale on DCH phenomena; however, a significant question concerns the potential experiment distortions introduced by the use of non-prototypic iron/alumina thermite. Therefore, further testing with prototypic materials has been carried out at ANL. Three tests have been completed, DCH-U1A, U1B and U2. DCH-U1A and U1B employed an inerted containment atmosphere and are counterpart to the IET-1RR test with iron/alumina thermite. DCH-U2 employed nominally the same atmosphere composition of its counterpart iron/alumina test, IET-6. All tests, with prototypic material, have produced lower peak containment pressure rises; 45, 111 and 185 kPa in U1A, U1B and U2, compared to 150 and 250 kPa IET-1RR and 6. Hydrogen production, due to metal-steam reactions, was 33% larger in U1B and U2 compared to IET-1RR and IET-6. The pressurization efficiency was consistently lower for the corium tests compared to the IET tests.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 140597
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/RE/CP-81947; CONF-931160-41; ON: DE94006826; TRN: 94:005568
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: American Nuclear Society (ANS) winter meeting, San Francisco, CA (United States), 14-18 Nov 1993; Other Information: PBD: [1993]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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