Analyses on ex-vessel debris formation and coolability in SARNET frame

Experimental study of the dryout of a 2D heat-generating model porous medium

“…of the 1D macro-scale approaches used to model dryout, as discussed in recent studies [2]. Is the correlation length between dry patches compatible with a macro-scale description (i.e.…”

“…In the context of nuclear safety, study of the dryout of an initially flooded bed of particles is a key topic [1,2]. Such a situation may occur following a major accident provoking the reactor core fragmentation (such as a loss of coolant accident), leading to the formation of a debris bed in the nuclear reactor vessel.…”

Modelling of debris bed reflooding in PEARL experimental facility with MC3D code

“…The debris bed coolability was recognized as an important nuclear safety issue in the frame of the EU SARNET-2 (Severe Accident Research NETwork of Excellence) programme (Pohlner et al, 2014). In the EU SARNET-2 programme the debris bed formation due to the fuel-coolant interaction and the coolability of the formed debris bed were analysed.…”

“…Under the PROGRES research program experiments are being performed at the PRELUDE and PEARL facilities at IRSN, France (Bachrata et al, 2013;Chikhi et al, 2014;Fichot et al, 2012;Pohlner et al, 2014;Repetto et al, 2013). The PROGRES experimental program was launched to highlight the behaviour of a steam and water flow in a hot porous medium and to provide experimental data to validate the 2-D and 3-D models for the debris bed reflooding (IRSN Research programs, 2016).…”

“…To describe the general features of the debris bed reflooding phenomena computer codes were developed, including MEWA from IKE, DECOSIM from KTH, CORIUM-2D from RSE, Italy, and PORFLO from VTT, Finland (Parozzi et al, 2010;Pohlner et al, 2014). Recently, the MC3D code from IRSN was upgraded to enable the debris bed coolability modelling (Raverdy et al, 2017).…”