In-vessel melt-water interaction caused by the failure of the crust above the core support plate under molten pool

Abstract

In this work, the consequences of postulated severe accidents in the European Pressurized Water Reactor which lead to molten pool formation inside the core and melt relocation into the lower head containing residual water are investigated. The path of relocation investigated is controlled by core support plate failure. Different failure cross sections are investigated. The results show that in none of the cases was any danger qf failure of the upper head of the reactor vessel leading to any risk for the containment integrity.