MELCOR 1.8.1 calculations of ISP31: The CORA-13 experiment
The MELCOR code was used to simulate one of GRS`s (a reactor research group in Germany) core degradation experiments conducted in the CORA out-of-pile test facility. This test, designated CORA-13, was selected as one of the International Standard Problems, Number ISP31, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In this blind calculation, only initial and boundary conditions were provided. The experiment consisted of a small core bundle of twenty-five PWR fuel elements that was electrically heated to temperatures greater than 2,800 K. The experiment composed three phases: a 3,000 second gas preheat phase, an 1,870 second transient phase, and a 180 second water quench phase. MELCOR predictions are compared both to the experimental data and to eight other ISP31 submittals. Temperatures of various components, energy balance, zircaloy oxidation, and core blockage are examined. Up to the point where oxidation was significant, MELCOR temperatures agreed very well with the experiment -- usually to within 50 K. MELCOR predicted oxidation to occur about 100 seconds earlier and at a faster rate than experimental data. The large oxidation spike that occurred during quench was not predicted. However, the experiment produced 210 grams of hydrogen, while MELCOR predicted 184 grams, which was one of the closest integral predictions of the nine submittals. Core blockage was of the right magnitude; however, material collected on the lower grid spacer in the experiment at an axial location of 450 mm, while in MELCOR the material collected at the 50 to 150 mm location. In general, compared to the other submittals, the MELCOR calculation was superior.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 10177778
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-92-2863; ON: DE93018504; TRN: 93:018956
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Jun 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
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PWR TYPE REACTORS
MELTDOWN
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
REACTOR CORES
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NONBREEDING
LIGHT-WATER MODERATED
NONBOILING WATER COOLED
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