Vaporization of mercury from molten lead droplets doped with mercury: Pb/Hg source term experiment for the APT/SILC target

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10124305· OSTI ID:10124305

Tutu, N K; Greene, G A

Experiments were performed to measure the fraction of mercury inventory released when droplets of molten lead, doped with a known concentration of mercury, fall through a controlled environment. The temperature of molten droplets ranged from 335 C to 346 C, and the concentration of mercury in the droplets ranged from 0.2 mass % to 1.0 mass %. The environment consisted of an air stream, at a temperature nominally equal to the melt temperature, and moving vertically upwards at a velocity of 10 cm/s. Direct observations and chemical analysis showed that no mercury was released from the molten droplets. Based upon the experimental results, it is concluded that no mercury vapor is likely to be released from the potentially molten source rod material in the APT-SILC Neutron Source Array to the confinement atmosphere during a postulated Large Break Loss Of Coolant Accident scenario leading to the melting of a fraction of the source rods.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 10124305
• Report Number(s): BNL--52449; ON: DE95008346
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
430303
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120
ACCELERATOR FACILITIES
ACCIDENTS
CHEMICALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS
COOLING SYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
EVAPORATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
FAILURES
LIQUID METALS
MERCURY
NEUTRON SOURCES
RADIOISOTOPES
SOURCE TERMS
SPALLATION FRAGMENTS
TARGETS