Molten core--granitic concrete reaction studies at Savannah River

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6300459

Randolph, H. W.; Payne, J. E.; Margrave, J. L.

The production reactors at the Savannah River Plant are powered by uranium-aluminum alloy fuel cooled by flowing heavy water. As part of current severe accident consequence analysis, hypothetical cases of total loss of cooling are being evaluated. If there is such a loss of cooling in the main reactor tank, heat from radioactive fission product decay could cause the fuel to melt and penetrate the bottom of the reactor. Molten metal, called ''corium'' consisting of fuel, other core material, and part of the tank itself would then contact the concrete floor below the reactor and react chemically and physically to produce aerosols and other products. A study of the interactions of molten uranium-aluminum corium with granitic concrete has been established at Savannah River and experiments are being performed at the Savannah River Laboratory, the Houston Area Research Center and Rice University, and Sandia National Laboratories. The objective of the program is to gain an understanding of reactions to be expected when molten core material contacts granite aggregate concrete of the type under the reactors at the Savannah River Plant. Small scale (one to ten grams of metal) studies were designed to determine reaction chemistry when samples are heated with and without ionizing radiation. Larger scale studies with fifty to one hundred kilograms of metal were designed to gain an understanding of the physics, aerosol production and scale-up of processes.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Lab., Aiken, SC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-76SR00001
• OSTI ID: 6300459
• Report Number(s): DP-MS-89-47; CONF-890378-7; ON: DE89010473
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220700 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Plutonium & Isotope Production Reactors
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ACCIDENTS
AEROSOLS
ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM
BUILDING MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLAYS
COLLOIDS
CONCRETES
CORIUM
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
GRANITES
HEAT TRANSFER
HIGH ALLOY STEELS
HYDRAULICS
IGNEOUS ROCKS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
LIQUID METALS
LIQUIDS
LOSS OF COOLANT
MATERIALS
MECHANICS
MELTDOWN
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PLUTONIC ROCKS
PRODUCTION REACTORS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTORS
ROCKS
SAFETY
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SOLS
STAINLESS STEELS
STEELS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS