Molten Core Concrete Interaction Test in VULCANO Facility Preventing Initial Interfacial Crusts

V. Bouyer (1) , A. Denoix (1) , C. Journeau (1) , D. Molina (1) , P. Piluso (1) , J.-F. Haquet (1) , J. Foit (2) , B. Fluhrer (2) , A. Miassoedov (2)

1 CEA-DES (ex-DEN) - CEA-Direction des Energies (ex-Direction de l'Energie Nucléaire)
2 KIT - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

In the frame of the Severe Accident Facilities for European Safety Targets (SAFEST) project, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Society for installation and Reactor Safety (GRS) have proposed to realize a Molten Corium Concrete Interaction (MCCI) test in the VULCANO facility located at the PLINIUS experimental platform, CEA Cadarache. The MCCI test, named VBES-U5, was carried out on July 20th, 2017. 50kg of thermite has reacted to melt a prototypic corium in a siliceous concrete test section, which was then heated by induction. The test section was 2D cylindrical with an inner diameter of 250 mm, an outer diameter of 500 mm, an inner height of 300 mm and outer height of 475 mm. MCCI was carried out for 40 min which conducted to an axial ablation of 10 mm and a radial ablation of 60 mm. Great care has been taken to prevent initial crust formation (corium composition such that initial contact temperature is above solidus, high power during the first minutes). Nevertheless, a pronounced radial ablation has been observed for this siliceous concrete, similarly to previous VULCANO tests in which initial crust formation was likely to occur.

Mots clés: MCCI; Severe accidents; CORIUM; Concrete; Initial Conditions

Mots clés: beton

Domaines: Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]; Physique Nucléaire Théorique [nucl-th]

V. Bouyer, A. Denoix, C. Journeau, D. Molina, P. Piluso, et al.. Molten Core Concrete Interaction Test in VULCANO Facility Preventing Initial Interfacial Crusts. NUTHOS12 - 12th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation and Safety, Oct 2018, Qingdao, China. ⟨cea-02338562⟩