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- Journeau, C., et al.
(author)
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European Research on the Corium issues within the SARNET network of excellence
- 2008
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In: International Conference on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants, ICAPP 2008. - 9781605607870 ; , s. 1172-1181
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Within SARNET, the corium topic covers all the behaviors of corium from early phase of core degradation to in or ex-vessel corium recovery with the exception of corium interaction with water, direct containment heating and fission product release. The corium topic regroups in three work packages the critical mass of competence required to improve significantly the corium behavior knowledge. The spirit of the SARNET networking is to share the knowledge, the facilities and the simulation tools for severe accidents, so to reach a better efficiency and to rationalize the R&D effort at European level. Extensive benchmarking has been launched in most of the areas of research. These benchmarks were mainly dedicated to the recalculation of experiments, while, in the next periods, a larger focus will be given to integral experiments or reactor applications. Eventually, all the knowledge will be accumulated in the ASTEC severe accident simulation code through physical model improvements and extension of validation database. This paper summarizes the progress that has been achieved in the frame of the networking activities. A special focus is placed on the melt pool and debris coolability and corium-concrete interaction, in which, the effects due to multidimensional geometries and heterogeneities has been shown, during SARNET, to play a crucial role and for which further research is still needed.
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2. |
- Fritioff, T., et al.
(author)
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Purification of radioactive neutron-rich argon beams using an ion source in charge breeding mode
- 2006
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In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576 .- 0167-5087. ; 556:1, s. 31-37
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Measurements of nuclear properties of some neutron-rich asymmetric fission isotopes at an ISOL laboratory present a severe problem when a plasma ion source is used as the primary ion-source. The problem is associated with intense multi-charged symmetric fission contaminants that cannot be mass-separated from asymmetric fission products. In this work we demonstrate how this problem can be overcome on-line by using an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) as a charge-breeding secondary ion-source. Mixed Ar+/Kr2+/Xe3+ radioactive beams from an plasma ion-source were injected into the PHOENIX ECRIS that currently is installed at the ISOLDE facility at CERN in order to improve the ratio of Ar to the background contaminants of Kr and Xe. The signal to noise ratio was improved by more than two orders of magnitude after charge-breeding and mass-separation of the Ar8+, Ar9+ beams. The information on the decay of the Ar-48 nucleus obtained in these tests is useful for a better understanding of the origin of the Ca-48/Ca-46 meteorite isotopic anomaly. Potential applications of the method are discussed.
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3. |
- Lamy, P, et al.
(author)
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A portrait of the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2007
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In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 128:1-4, s. 23-66
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In 2003, comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was selected as the new target of the Rosetta mission as the most suitable alternative to the original target, comet 46P/Wirtanen, on the basis of orbital considerations even though very little was known about the physical properties of its nucleus. In a matter of a few years and based on highly focused observational campaigns as well as thorough theoretical investigations, a detailed portrait of this nucleus has been established that will serve as a baseline for planning the Rosetta operations and observations. In this review article, we present a novel method to determine the size and shape of a cometary nucleus: several visible light curves were inverted to produce a size–scale free three–dimensional shape, the size scaling being imposed by a thermal light curve. The procedure converges to two solutions which are only marginally different. The nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko emerges as an irregular body with an effective radius (that of the sphere having the same volume) = 1.72 km and moderate axial ratios a/b = 1.26 and a/c = 1.5 to 1.6. The overall dimensions measured along the principal axis for the two solutions are 4.49–4.75 km, 3.54–3.77 km and 2.94–2.92 km. The nucleus is found to be in principal axis rotation with a period = 12.4–12.7 h. Merging all observational constraints allow us to specify two regions for the direction of the rotational axis of the nucleus: RA = 220°+50° −30° and Dec = −70° ± 10° (retrograde rotation) or RA = 40°+50° -30° and Dec = +70°± 10° (prograde), the better convergence of the various determinations presently favoring the first solution. The phase function, although constrained by only two data points, exhibits a strong opposition effect rather similar to that of comet 9P/Tempel 1. The definition of the disk–integrated albedo of an irregular body having a strong opposition effect raises problems, and the various alternatives led to a R-band geometric albedo in the range 0.045–0.060, consistent with our present knowledge of cometary nuclei. The active fraction is low, not exceeding ~ 7% at perihelion, and is probably limited to one or two active regions subjected to a strong seasonal effect, a picture coherent with the asymmetric behaviour of the coma. Our slightly downward revision of the size of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko resulting from the present analysis (with the correlative increase of the albedo compared to the originally assumed value of 0.04), and our best estimate of the bulk density of 370 kg m−3, lead to a mass of ~ 8 × 10e12 kg which should ease the landing of Philae and insure the overall success of the Rosetta mission.
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