The Results From the First High-Pressure Melt Ejection Test Completed in the Molten Fuel Moderator Interaction Facility at Chalk River Laboratories
- Chalk River Laboratories, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada, K0J 1J0 (Canada)
A high-pressure melt ejection test using prototypical corium was conducted at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Chalk River Laboratories. This test was planned by the CANDU Owners Group to study the potential for an energetic interaction between molten fuel and water under postulated single-channel flow-blockage events. The experiments were designed to address regulator concerns surrounding this very low probability postulated accident events in CANDU Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors. The objective of the experimental program is to determine whether a highly energetic 'steam explosion' and associated high-pressure pulse, is possible when molten material is finely fragmented as it is ejected from a fuel channel into the heavy-water moderator. The finely fragmented melt particles would transfer energy to the moderator as it is dispersed, creating a modest pressure pulse in the calandria vessel. The high-pressure melt ejection test consisted of heating up a {approx} 5 kg thermite mixture of U, U{sub 3}O{sub 8}, Zr, and CrO{sub 3} inside a 1.14-m length of insulated pressure tube. When the molten material reached the desired temperature of {approx} 2400 deg C, the pressure inside the tube was raised to 11.6 MPa, failing the pressure tube at a pre-machined flaw, and releasing the molten material into the surrounding tank of 68 deg C water. The experiment investigated the dynamic pressure history, debris size, and the effects of the material interacting with tubes representing neighbouring fuel channels. The measured mean particle size was 0.686 mm and the peak dynamic pressures were between 2.54 and 4.36 MPa, indicating that an energetic interaction between the melt and the water did not occur in the test. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21016362
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2006 International congress on advances in nuclear power plants - ICAPP'06, Reno - Nevada (United States), 4-8 Jun 2006; Other Information: Country of input: France; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 2006 international congress on advances in nuclear power plants - ICAPP'06, 2734 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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