Status Report on Ex-Vessel Coolability and Water Management
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Specific to BWR plants, current accident management guidance calls for flooding the drywell to a level of approximately 1.2 m (4 feet) above the drywell floor once vessel breach has been determined. While this action can help to submerge ex-vessel core debris, it can also result in flooding the wetwell and thereby rendering the wetwell vent path unavailable. An alternate strategy is being developed in the industry guidance for responding to the severe accident capable vent Order, EA-13-109. The alternate strategy being proposed would throttle the flooding rate to achieve a stable wetwell water level while preserving the wetwell vent path. The overall objective of this work is to upgrade existing analytical tools (i.e. MELTSPREAD and CORQUENCH - which have been used as part of the DOE-sponsored Fukushima accident analyses) in order to provide flexible, analytically capable, and validated models to support the development of water throttling strategies for BWRs that are aimed at keeping ex-vessel core debris covered with water while preserving the wetwell vent path.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Reactor Technologies (NE-7). Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program; Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI) (United States)
- Contributing Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1324704
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/NE-16/18; 130282; TRN: US1700062
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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