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Title: Physical modeling of core debris: basemat interactions in a MgO-lined LMFBR cavity

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5912411

The use of a MgO delay bed as a sacrificial material to accommodate core debris within the reactor cavity following a major core disruptive accident involving reactor vessel and guard vessel failure has been considered as one of the likely core retention concepts in LMFBR safety studies. The primary objective of this concept is to prevent direct contact of sodium with concrete so as to minimize the sodium-concrete interactions which result in gas evolution from the concrete structure and the chemical energy release. Another important objective is to provide an effective means of decay heat removal utilizing the large thermal mass of the MgO bed. Characterization has been made of the nature of phenomena involved in the interactions and the potential sequence of their occurrence. A flow diagram for accident progression has been constructed to describe the likely events that may take place in the cavity. The transport rate and mechanism as well as the time scale of each event have been determined by a scoping analysis.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-31-109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
5912411
Report Number(s):
CONF-831047-29; ON: DE83014677
Resource Relation:
Conference: American Nuclear Society winter meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, 30 Oct 1983
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English