Lessons learned from in-vessel melt progression research performed at Sandia National Laboratories
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
The accident at the Three Mile Island unit 2 coincided with a shift in perspective on commercial light water reactor (LWR) safety from one that emphasized design-basis accidents to one that emphasized an increasing concern for low-probability severe accidents. This shift in emphasis was reflected in the research programs initiated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as detailed in the Severe Accident Research Plan. In addition to other work, experimental and analytical studies of LWR core-melt progression behavior were initiated at several national laboratories. At Sandia National Laboratories, three separate experimental programs were performed in the annular core research reactor (ACRR) and have provided valuable insights into severe fuel damage processes: the damaged fuel program investigating fuel rod initial heatup and damage; the source term program, investigating fission product release from highly irradiated LWR fuel: and the melt progression program, which investigated the later stages of fuel-melt progression in highly degraded (rubble bed) geometry.
- OSTI ID:
- 6958948
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-931160--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 69; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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