Test results on direct containment heating by high-pressure melt ejection into the Surtsey vessel: The TDS test series

The probability of containment failure by direct containment heating in Zion

“…The melt mass ranged from 10 -80 kg. The HIPS, DCH, TDS, and LFP tests (Pilch et al, 1988;Tarbell et al, 1986;Tarbell et al, 1987;Allen et al, 1994;Allen et al, 1991) were all HPMWDCH tests where the hole was allowed to ablate freely. The MICE tests (Marshall et al, 1988) were conducted < specifically to look at ablation as a function of the initial temperature of the steel plate.…”

“…The case of a waterflooded cavity was not included in the scope of this work because the various plant designs have not yet been examined in detail to find the extent to which this situation is relevant. Some preliminary experiments (Allen et al8, 1993;Allen et al, 1994) indicate that for flooded cavities, containment loads are less than those with wet cavities. In fact, the observed loads appear to be dominated more by a steam spike than heating of the atmosphere.…”