| 1. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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CORPHAD and METCOR ISTC projects
- 2005
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Ingår i: Proceedings of The first European Review Meeting on Severe Accident Research (ERMSAR-2005).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ongoing CORPHAD Project (Phase Diagrams for Multicomponent SystemsContaining Corium and Products of its Interaction with NPP Materials) started in August2001. The main aim of the project is to experimentally determine the relevantphysicochemical data on phase diagrams of binary, ternary, quaternary and prototypic multicomponent systems, which are important for analysis and modelling of a severe accident (SA)and efficient planning of severe accident management (SAM) measures. The data should bedirectly used for the European NUCLEA database development and validation. The followingsystems are in the focus of the project: (1) UO2 – FeO, (2) ZrO2 – FeO, (3) SiO2– Fe2O3, (4)UO2 – SiO2, (5) UO2 – ZrO2-FeO, (6) UO2 – ZrO2-FeOy, (7) U-O-Fe, (8) Zr-O-Fe, (9) U-OZr, (10) U-Zr-Fe-O, (11) complex corium mixtures.The experimentally determined data of the listed diagrams include: coordinates ofcharacteristic points (eutectics, peritectics and others); liquidus and solidus concentrationcurves; component solubility limits in the solid phase; tie line coordinates and temperatureconcentration regions of the miscibility gap. Different methodologies are used for the phasediagram study. Classical methods of thermal analysis, like DTA and DSC are combined withmethods specifically developed for corium studies.The METCOR project (Investigation of Corium Melt Interaction with NPP ReactorVessel Steel) started in April 1999. The objectives of the project are to qualify and to quantifyphysico-chemical phenomena of corium melt interaction with reactor vessel steel cooled fromthe outside. The variable parameters of the interaction tests are: oxygen potential in thesystem, corium composition, interaction interface temperature and heat flux from corium tosteel. The medium scale tests with corium mass of about 2 kg are carried out by using highfrequency induction heating of the corium melt in a cold crucible.The METCOR & CORPHAD work-packages are performed by Russian partners inclose collaboration with leading European scientific institutes in the area of corium researchas well as with the European nuclear industry.This paper briefly describes the results obtained in both projects and their possibleapplication for SA analysis and SAM. The paper concludes with recommendations for futureresearch activities in the framework of METCOR and CORPHAD projects.
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| 2. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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Corrosion of vessel steel during its interaction with molten corium : Part 2. Model development
- 2006
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Ingår i: Nuclear Engineering and Design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0029-5493 .- 1872-759X. ; 236:13, s. 1362-1370
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An experimental examination of the cooled vessel steel corrosion during the interaction with molten corium is presented. The experiments havebeen conducted on “Rasplav-2” test facility and followed up with physico-chemical and metallographic analyses of melt samples and coriumspecimeningots. The results discussed in the first part of the paper have revealed specific corrosion mechanisms for air and inert atmosphere abovethe melt. Models have been proposed based on this information and approximate curves constructed for the estimation of the corrosion rate orcorrosion depth of vessel steel in conditions simulated by the experiments.
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| 3. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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Corrosion of vessel steel during its interaction with molten corium : Part 1. Experimental
- 2006
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Ingår i: Nuclear Engineering and Design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0029-5493 .- 1872-759X. ; 236:17, s. 1810-1829
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is concerned with corrosion of a cooled vessel steel structure interacting with molten corium in air and neutral (nitrogen) atmospheresduring an in-vessel retention scenario. The data on corrosion kinetics at different temperatures on the heated steel surface, heat flux densities andoxygen potential in the system are presented. The post-test physico-chemical and metallographic analyses of melt samples and the corium–specimeningot have clarified certain mechanisms of steel corrosion taking place during the in-vessel melt interaction.
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| 4. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental study of interactions between suboxidized corium and reactor vessel steel
- 2006
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2006 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants, ICAPP'06. - 0894486985 - 9780894486982 ; , s. 1355-1362
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the critical factors in the analysis of in-vessel melt retention is the vessel strength. It is, in particular, sensitive to the thickness of intact vessel wall, which, in its turn, depends on the thermal conditions and physicochemical interactions with corium. Physicochemical interaction of prototypic UO2-ZrO2-Zr corium melt and VVER vessel steel was examined during the 2nd Phase of the ISTC METCOR Project. Rasplav-3 test facility was used for conducting four tests, in which the Zr oxidation degree and interaction front temperature were varied; in one of the tests, stainless steel was added to the melt. Direct experimental measurements and posttest analyses were used for determining corrosion kinetics and maximum corrosion depth (i.e. the physicochemical impact of corium on the cooled vessel steel specimens), as well as the steel temperature conditions during the interaction, and finally the structure and composition of crystallized ingots, including the interaction zone. The minimum temperature on the interaction front boundary, which determined its final position and maximum corrosion depth was ∼ 1090°C. An empirical correlation for calculation of corrosion kinetics has been derived.
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| 5. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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Interaction between molten corium UO2+X-ZrO2-FeO y and VVER vessel steel
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceeding of International Conference on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants, ICAPP 2008. - : Curran Associates, Inc.. - 9781605607870 ; , s. 210-218
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In case of an in-vessel corium retention (1VR) the deterioration of vessel steel properties can be caused both by the steel melting and by its physicochemical interaction with corium. The interaction behavior has been studied in the medium-scale experiments with a prototypic corium within the METCOR project. The resulting experimental data give an insight into the steel corrosion during its interaction with U02+x- Zr02- FeOy melt in air and steam. It has been observed that the corrosion rate is almost the same in air and steam atmosphere; if the temperature on the interaction interface increases beyond a certain level, corrosion intensifies, which is explained by the formation of liquid phases in the interaction zone. The available experimental data have been used for developing a correlation of corrosion rate versus temperature and heat flux.
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| 6. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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INTERACTION BETWEEN MOLTEN CORIUM UO2+x-ZrO2-FeOy AND VVER VESSEL STEEL
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nuclear Technology. - : American Nuclear Society. - 0029-5450 .- 1943-7471. ; 170:1, s. 210-218
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In case of in-vessel corium retention during a severe accident in a light water reactor, weakening of the vessel wall and deterioration of the vessel steel properties can be caused both by the melting of the steel and by its physicochemical interaction with corium. The interaction behavior has been studied in medium-scale experiments with prototypic corium. The experiments yielded data for the steel corrosion rate during interaction with UO2+x-ZrO2-FeOy melt in air and steam at different steel surface temperatures and heat fluxes from the corium to the steel. It has been observed that the corrosion rates in air and steam atmosphere are almost the same. Further, if the temperature at the interface increases beyond a certain level, corrosion intensifies. This is explained by the formation of liquid phases in the interaction zone. The available experimental data have been used to develop a correlation for the corrosion rate as afunction of temperature and heat flux.
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| 7. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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New experimental results on the interaction of molten corium with reactor vessel steel
- 2004
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2004 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants, ICAPP'04. - : American Nuclear Society. - 0894486802 ; , s. 1072-1081
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to justify the concept of in-vessel core melt retention, it is necessary to understand the thermal and physico-chemical phenomena. Especially the interaction of the molten pool with the reactor vessel during outside cooling needs to be understood. These phenomena are very complex, in particular, where interactions with the oxidic melt are concerned. In the early stages of the retention process, the oxidic corium and the vessel steel interact under the conditions of low oxygen potential in the melt. These conditions can be simulated by a molten corium having the composition UO2/ZrO 2Zr, where the degree of Zr-oxidation is in the range between 30 % (C-30) and 100 % (C-100). Corresponding experiments with prototypic melts at low oxygen potentials are being performed in the ISTC METCOR project 2nd phase. These are: MC 5 of corium composition 71w%UO2-29w%ZrO 2 (C-100) in neutral atmosphere (argon), MC 6 of corium composition 76w%UO2-9w%ZrO2-15w%Zr (C∼30), also in argon. In test MC 5, the interaction of molten C-100 corium with a water-cooled steel specimen was studied for the following maximum temperatures at the specimen surface: 1075°C, 1180°C, 1315°C and 1435°C. The total duration of the experiment was ∼ 36 hours. The MC5 test serves as a reference test for determining the characteristics of the interaction between oxidic melt and steel specimen under the conditions of minimum chemical interaction potential. To investigate the effect of substoichiometry, test MC 6 was then performed with suboxidized molten corium C∼30. The maximum surface temperature of the cooled steel specimen was held at ∼ 1400°C. The test duration was ∼ 10 hours. The ablation phenomena were found to differ significantly from those observed both in the reference test, as well as in former tests with oxidized melts, as they involved the formation of a low-melting metallic phase at the interface which contains iron, zirconium and uranium. The paper summarizes the results of the experiments and of the performed posttest analysis for tests MC 5 and MC 6.
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| 8. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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Phase diagram of the UO2-FeO1+x system
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of Nuclear Materials. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-3115 .- 1873-4820. ; 362:1, s. 46-52
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phase-relation studies of the UO2–FeO1+x system in an inert atmosphere are presented. The eutectic point has beendetermined, which corresponds to a temperature of (1335 ± 5) C and a UO2 concentration of (4.0 ± 0.1) mol.%. Themaximum solubility of FeO in UO2 at the eutectic temperature has been estimated as (17.0 ± 1.0) mol.%. Liquidus temperaturesfor a wide concentration range have been determined and a phase diagram of the system has been constructed.
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| 9. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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Phase diagram of the ZrO2-FeO system
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of Nuclear Materials. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-3115 .- 1873-4820. ; 348:1-2, s. 114-121
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The results on the ZrO2–FeO system studies in a neutral atmosphere are presented. The refined eutectic point has beenfound to correspond to a ZrO2 concentration of 10.3 ± 0.6 mol% at 1332 ± 5 C. The ultimate solubility of iron oxide inzirconia has been determined in a broad temperature range, taking into account the ZrO2 polymorphism. A phase diagramof the pseudobinary system in question has been constructed.
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| 10. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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Phase transformation in the binary section of the UO2-FeO-Fe system
- 2007
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Ingår i: Radiochemistry (New York, N.Y.). - 1066-3622 .- 1608-3288. ; 49:1, s. 20-24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phase transformations in the oxide binary section of the UO2-FeO-Fe ternary system were studied. The melting onset point of the UO2-FeO heterogeneous system (1335±5°C) was determined and the fusion curve of this system was constructed. The limiting solubility of FeO in the UO2 solid solution was measured. The changes in crystal parameters in formation of the solid solution were determined. Uranium dioxide was found to be insoluble in the wüstite phase (FeO).
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| 11. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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VVER steel corrosion during in-vessel retention of corium melt
- 2008
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 3<sup>rd</sup> European Review Meeting on Severe Accident Research (ERMSAR 2008).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Physicochemical phenomena taking place at the corium-steel interaction during theexternal cooling of reactor vessel can result in high-temperature steel corrosion and thinningof the vessel wall. The ISTC METCOR project's experimental studies have shown that themain factors influencing corrosion depth and kinetics are oxygen potential, melt compositionand steel interfacial temperature but also melt – vessel heat flux.Experimental data are used for building a model for VVER vessel steel corrosion undercorium thermochemical loads and for correlations to quantitatively analyze the influence ofcorrosion on the rector vessel thinning. The finite-element calculations, in which thedeveloped models of corrosion and heat transfer in corium pool were used, were able toreproduce the temperature and stress-and-strain vessel condition.
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| 12. |
- Bechta, Sevostian, et al.
(författare)
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VVER vessel steel corrosion at interaction with molten corium in oxidizing atmosphere
- 2009
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Ingår i: Nuclear Engineering and Design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0029-5493 .- 1872-759X. ; 239:6, s. 1103-1112
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The long-term in-vessel corium retention (IVR) in the lower head bears a risk of the vessel wall deterioration caused by steel corrosion. The ISTC METCOR Project has studied physicochemical impact of prototypic coria having different compositions in air and steam and has generated valuable experimental data on vessel steel corrosion. It is found that the corrosion rate is sensitive to corium composition, but the composition of oxidizing above-melt atmosphere (air, steam) has practically no influence on it. A model of the corrosion process that integrates the experimental data, is proposed and used for development of correlations.
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| 13. |
- Khabensky, V. B., et al.
(författare)
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Effect of temperature gradient on chemical element partitioning in corium pool during in-vessel retention
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nuclear Engineering and Design. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0029-5493 .- 1872-759X. ; 327, s. 82-91
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The paper presents some results of the ISTC (International Science and Technology Center)-financed project ‘Investigation of Corium Melt Interaction with NPP Reactor Vessel Steel’ (METCOR). In the METCOR experiments the metallic phase of a two-liquid system was produced by the interaction between hot suboxidized corium and cooled VVER vessel steel, with the steel being corroded. Models of corrosion mechanisms in the considered conditions are used to systematize data on the limiting temperature of corrosion/(dissolution) of the vessel steel. A considerable influence of thermal gradient conditions is shown, which has to be taken into account in the analysis of molten pool behaviour.
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| 14. |
- Miassoedov, A., et al.
(författare)
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Corium and debris coolability studies performed in the severe accident research network of excellence (SARNET2)
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings Of The 20th International Conference On Nuclear Engineering And The ASME 2012 Power Conference - 2012, Vol 2. - : ASME Press. ; , s. 383-392
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The motivation of the work performed within the work package "Corium and Debris Coolability" of the Severe Accident Research Network of Excellence (SARNET) is to reduce or possibly solve the remaining uncertainties on the efficiency of cooling reactor core structures and materials during severe accidents, either in the core, in the vessel lower head or in the reactor cavity, so as to limit the progression of the accident. This can be achieved either by ensuring corium retention within the reactor pressure vessel or at least by limiting the corium progression and the rate of corium release into the cavity. These issues are to be covered within the scope of accident management for existing reactors and within the scope of design and safety evaluation of future reactors. The specific objectives are to create and enhance the database on debris formation, debris coolability and corium behavior in the lower head, to develop and validate the models and computer codes for simulation of in-vessel debris bed and melt pool behavior, to perform reactor scale analysis for in-vessel corium coolability and to assess the influence of severe accident management measures on in-vessel coolability. The work being performed within this work package comprises experimental and modeling activities with strong cross coupling between the tasks. Substantial knowledge and understanding of governing phenomena concerning coolability of intact rod-like reactor core geometry was obtained in previous projects. Hence the main thrust of experimental and modeling efforts concentrates mainly on the study of formation and cooling of debris beds in order to demonstrate effective cooling modes, cooling rates and coolability limits. Modeling efforts have been aimed at assessing and validating the models in system-level and detailed codes for core degradation, oxidation and debris behavior. The paper describes the work performed up to now and summarizes the main results achieved so far.
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| 15. |
- Van Dorsselaere, J. -P, et al.
(författare)
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Status of the SARNET network on severe accidents
- 2010
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Ingår i: International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants 2010, ICAPP 2010. - 9781617386435 ; , s. 1029-1043
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- After four and a half years of operation in the frame of the 6th Framework Programme (FP6) of the European Commission, SARNET (Severe Accidents Research NETwork of excellence) continues in the FP7 (project named SARNET2) from April 2009 for 4 years. Forty-one organisations from 21 countries network their capacities of research in order to resolve the most important remaining uncertainties and safety issues on severe accidents (SA) in existing and future water-cooled nuclear power plants (NPPs). It includes a large majority of the Europeanactors involved in SA research plus a few non-European important ones. The objective is to perform the common research programmes that have been defined in the network first phase and to continue to improve the common computer tools and methodologies for NPP safety assessment. It will consolidate the sustainable integration of the European SA research capacities. These research programmes concern essentially the six highest priority safety issues that were identified after ranking in the first phase of the network: in-vessel core coolability, molten-corium-concrete-interaction, fuel-coolant interaction, hydrogen mixing and combustion in containment, impact of oxidising conditions on source term, and iodine chemistry. The Joint Programme of Activities includes the following main tasks: Performing new experiments on the above mentioned issues andjointly analysing their results in order to elaborate a common understanding of the concerned physical phenomena; Continuing the development and assessment of the ASTEC integral computer code (jointly developed by IRSN and GRS to predict the NPP behaviour during a postulated SA), which capitalizes in terms of models the knowledge produced in the network. In particular efforts are being extended to its applicability to BWR and CANDU NPP types; Continuing the storage of the SA experimental results in a scientific database, based on the STRESA JRC tool; Promoting educational and training courses, ERMSAR (European Review Meeting on Severe Accident Research) international conferences (to be held once a year) and mobility of young researchers or students between the various European organisations. Some R&D results obtained in the first year of the project are presented, in particular: the VULCANO experiment done in CEA mid-2009 on molten-core-corium-interaction, and the release of the first version of the new ASTEC V2 series.
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