Small scale BWR core debris eutectics formation and melting experiment

Abstract

A small scale experiment has recently been performed at Oak Ridge under the auspices of the Boiling Water Reactor Severe Accident Technology (BWRSAT) program to provide information concerning the formation of mixtures during heatup of representative BWR reactor vessel bottom head debris and to determine the composition and melting temperatures of these mixtures. The initial structure of the bottom head debris layers modeled in the experiment was taken from the results of recent Boiling Water Reactor Severe Accident Response (BWRSAR) code predictions for the short-term station blackout accident sequence. The experimental results provide useful information concerning the mixtures formed and their proportions and properties. The observed run-off of a stainless steel-zirconium eutectic alloy supports the contention that the initial pour from a BWR reactor vessel would consists of molten metals at relatively low temperatures.