VANESA: a mechanistic model of radionuclide release and aerosol generation during core debris interactions with concrete

Technical Report · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5150148· OSTI ID:5150148

Powers, D. A.; Brockmann, J. E.; Shiver, A. W.

This document describes a model, called VANESA, of the release of radionuclides and generation of aerosol accompanying reactor core melt interactions with structural concrete. The document also serves as a user's manual for an implementation of the VANESA model as a computer code. The technical bases for the VANESA model are reviewed. Mechanical generation of aerosols as bubbles burst at melt surfaces or as a result of liquid entrainment is considered. A description of these processes based on data for gas-sparged water systems is included in the VANESA model. Some limiting solutions to the problem of the competitive processes of nucleation of particles from vapor, condensation of vapors on surfaces, and coagulation of particles are examined. From these examinations an approximate model of the aerosol particle size produced during core debris interactions with concrete is devised. The attenuation of aerosol emission during core debris/concrete interactions by an overlying water pool is discussed. The document concludes with a description of a computer code implementation of the VANESA model. This implementation of the model was used in recent assessments of the behavior of radionuclides during severe reactor accidents. Comparisons of the predictions of radionuclide release during core debris/concrete interactions obtained with the VANESA model and with older models are presented.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5150148
• Report Number(s): NUREG/CR-4308; SAND-85-1370; ON: TI87000314
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220502 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Environmental Aspects-- Radioactive Effluents
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ACCIDENTS
AEROSOLS
BUILDING MATERIALS
COLLOIDS
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONCRETES
CORIUM
DISPERSIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
INTERACTIONS
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
POWER PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
SIMULATION
SOLS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
US NRC
US ORGANIZATIONS
V CODES