Improvements in modelling (by ESCADRE mod1.0) radiative heat losses through gas and aerosols generated by molten corium-concrete interactions

Book · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996

OSTI ID:250992

Passalacqua, R ^[1]; Zabiego, M; Cognet, G; Pascale, C De; Commande, A; Renault, C ^[2]

---

1. ENEA CR Casaccia, Rome (Italy). Dipt. Energia
2. CEA Cadarache, St. Paul-lez-Durance (France)

Aerosols generated during the molten core-concrete interaction (MCCI) influence the reactor cavity thermal hydraulics: the cloud of aerosols, located inside the reactor cavity, restrains the upward-directed heat exchange consequently the cool-down of the high-temperature molten corium for a considerable period of time. IPSN is developing a computer code system for source predictions in severe accident scenarios. This code system is named ESCADRE. WECHSL/CALTHER is internal module dealing with MCCI (it is also a stand-alone code): it models the heat transfers involving the superior volume of the cavity. When modelling the upward-directed power distribution by WECHSL/CALTHER, a faster concrete basemat penetration takes place due to the low heat losses of the closed MCCI cavity enclosure. The model, here presented, is going to be validated with data from the AEROSTAT experiment. This experiment, planned at CEA Cadarache, will evaluate the influence of aerosols on the global power distribution in the reactor cavity. Radiative heat losses are important especially for cavity configurations such as those of new plant designs (equipped with a core-catcher) where the upward power losses are promoted by the corium spreading in a flat cavity.

• OSTI ID: 250992
• Report Number(s): CONF-960306--; ISBN 0-7918-1226-X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
AEROSOLS
CONCRETES
CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS
COOLING
CORIUM
E CODES
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDRAULICS
MITIGATION
POWER DISTRIBUTION
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR SAFETY EXPERIMENTS
SOURCE TERMS
SYNTHESIS
THEORETICAL DATA