Cooling of core debris within the reactor vessel lower head

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5854481

Henry, R E; Burelbach, J P; Hammersley, R J; Henry, C E ^[1]; Klopp, G T ^[2]

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1. Fauske and Associates, Inc., Burr Ridge, IL (United States)
2. Commonwealth Edison Co., Downers Grove, IL (United States)

Under severe-accident conditions, the most crucial action for recovery from the accident state is to cool the core debris and prevent or terminate attack on the remaining fission product barriers. One means of preventing attack on the containment structures is to retain the core debris within the reactor vessel. The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) accident demonstrated that this could be accomplished by water resident within the reactor vessel combined with injection on a continual basis to quench the debris and remove decay heat over the long term. Some accident situations could result in the transport of molten core debris to the lower plenum, as occurred in TMI-2, the boil-off of water in the lower plenum, and an inability to add water to the reactor coolant system (RCS). Even in this extreme set of circumstances, sufficient cooling may be available to prevent failure of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) lower head and thereby retain the core debris within the vessel. Experiments were performed in support of Commonwealth Edison's Zion individual plant examination and accident management programs that demonstrate nucleate boiling heat removal rates from the outer surface of a simulated RPV lower head surrounded by typical reflective insulation used in nuclear power plants.

• OSTI ID: 5854481
• Report Number(s): CONF-910603--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 63
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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