VULCANO VB-U7 experiment on interaction between oxidic corium and hematite-containing concrete

Tuomo Sevón; Christophe Journeau; Lionel Ferry

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2013.04.016

VULCANO VB-U7 experiment on interaction between oxidic corium and hematite-containing concrete

Tuomo Sevón (Corresponding Author), Christophe Journeau, Lionel Ferry

CEA Cadarache

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In a severe accident, the core of a reactor melts and forms corium, a mixture that includes molten UO₂ and ZrO₂. If the reactor pressure vessel fails, corium can interact with concrete.

This paper describes the VB-U7 experiment, which was performed in the VULCANO facility in Cadarache, France, in co-operation between CEA and VTT. This test aims at studying the interaction of more than 50 kg of prototypic oxidic corium with EPR sacrificial ferro-siliceous concrete. The experimental configuration, the measured data and post examination and analysis results are presented.

This test showed that EPR-type ferro-siliceous sacrificial concrete was anisotropically ablated by oxidic corium. This behavior is similar to that of other silica-rich concretes previously tested in CCI and VULCANO facilities. The corium temperature decreased to the value corresponding to about 50 vol% solid fraction when the concrete test section broke, leading to significant spreading.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	224-229
Journal	Annals of Nuclear Energy
Volume	59
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2013.04.016
Publication status	Published - 2013
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

MCCI
molten core-concrete interaction
severe accident

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10.1016/j.anucene.2013.04.016

Cite this

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title = "VULCANO VB-U7 experiment on interaction between oxidic corium and hematite-containing concrete",

abstract = "In a severe accident, the core of a reactor melts and forms corium, a mixture that includes molten UO2 and ZrO2. If the reactor pressure vessel fails, corium can interact with concrete.This paper describes the VB-U7 experiment, which was performed in the VULCANO facility in Cadarache, France, in co-operation between CEA and VTT. This test aims at studying the interaction of more than 50 kg of prototypic oxidic corium with EPR sacrificial ferro-siliceous concrete. The experimental configuration, the measured data and post examination and analysis results are presented.This test showed that EPR-type ferro-siliceous sacrificial concrete was anisotropically ablated by oxidic corium. This behavior is similar to that of other silica-rich concretes previously tested in CCI and VULCANO facilities. The corium temperature decreased to the value corresponding to about 50 vol% solid fraction when the concrete test section broke, leading to significant spreading.",

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year = "2013",

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language = "English",

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journal = "Annals of Nuclear Energy",

issn = "0306-4549",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - VULCANO VB-U7 experiment on interaction between oxidic corium and hematite-containing concrete

AU - Sevón, Tuomo

AU - Journeau, Christophe

AU - Ferry, Lionel

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - In a severe accident, the core of a reactor melts and forms corium, a mixture that includes molten UO2 and ZrO2. If the reactor pressure vessel fails, corium can interact with concrete.This paper describes the VB-U7 experiment, which was performed in the VULCANO facility in Cadarache, France, in co-operation between CEA and VTT. This test aims at studying the interaction of more than 50 kg of prototypic oxidic corium with EPR sacrificial ferro-siliceous concrete. The experimental configuration, the measured data and post examination and analysis results are presented.This test showed that EPR-type ferro-siliceous sacrificial concrete was anisotropically ablated by oxidic corium. This behavior is similar to that of other silica-rich concretes previously tested in CCI and VULCANO facilities. The corium temperature decreased to the value corresponding to about 50 vol% solid fraction when the concrete test section broke, leading to significant spreading.

AB - In a severe accident, the core of a reactor melts and forms corium, a mixture that includes molten UO2 and ZrO2. If the reactor pressure vessel fails, corium can interact with concrete.This paper describes the VB-U7 experiment, which was performed in the VULCANO facility in Cadarache, France, in co-operation between CEA and VTT. This test aims at studying the interaction of more than 50 kg of prototypic oxidic corium with EPR sacrificial ferro-siliceous concrete. The experimental configuration, the measured data and post examination and analysis results are presented.This test showed that EPR-type ferro-siliceous sacrificial concrete was anisotropically ablated by oxidic corium. This behavior is similar to that of other silica-rich concretes previously tested in CCI and VULCANO facilities. The corium temperature decreased to the value corresponding to about 50 vol% solid fraction when the concrete test section broke, leading to significant spreading.

KW - MCCI

KW - molten core-concrete interaction

KW - severe accident

U2 - 10.1016/j.anucene.2013.04.016

DO - 10.1016/j.anucene.2013.04.016

M3 - Article

SN - 0306-4549

VL - 59

SP - 224

EP - 229

JO - Annals of Nuclear Energy

JF - Annals of Nuclear Energy

ER -

VULCANO VB-U7 experiment on interaction between oxidic corium and hematite-containing concrete

Abstract

Keywords

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