LWR Severe Accident Research at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Alexei Miassoedov¹; Giancarlo Albrecht¹; Jerzy Foit¹; Xiaoyang Gaus-Liu¹; Walter Tromm¹

¹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-1482

Resumo

The analysis of a late phase of a severe accident in Light Water Reactors at KIT is concentrated on the in- and ex-vessel core melt behavior. The overall objective is to investigate core melt scenarios from the beginning of core degradation to melt formation and relocation in the vessel, possible melt dispersion to the reactor cavity and to the containment, and finally corium concrete interaction and corium coolability in the reactor cavity. The experimental platform includes three large-scale experimental facilities: LIVE to investigate the melt pool behavior in the RPV lower head; DISCO to study the melt dispersion to the reactor cavity and direct containment heating; MOCKA to study molten corium concrete interaction. The experiments are designed to be complementary to other European facilities and experimental platforms, such as CODEX, VULCANO or PLINIUS to form a coherent European nuclear experimental network. They contribute to a better understanding of the core melt sequences and thus improve safety of existing and, in the long-term, of future reactors by severe accident mitigation measures and by safety installations where required. The experimental programs are part of the SAFEST and ALISA projects of the 7th EU Framework Programme. The results of the experiments are used for the validation of codes applied for safety assessment and planning of accident mitigation concepts, such as ASTEC.

Palavras-chave: LWR; reactor; safety; severe accidents; experiments