Development of Experimental Technology for Simulated Fuel-Assembly Heating to Address Core-Material-Relocation Behavior During Severe Accident

Abstract

The authors are developing an experimental technology for simulating severe accident (SA) conditions using simulant fuel material (ZrO2) that would contribute, not only to Fukushima Daiichi (1 F) decommissioning, but also to enhance the safety of worldwide existing and future nuclear power plants through clarification of accident progression behavior. Nontransfer (NTR) type plasma, which has been in practical use with a large torch capacity as high as 2 MW, has the potential to heat subject materials to very high-temperatures without selecting the target to be heated. When simulating 1 F with SA code (Severe Core Damage Analysis Package (SCDAP), Methods for Estimation of Leakages and Consequences of Releases (MELCOR) and Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP)), the target of this core-material-melting and relocation (CMMR) experiment was to confirm that NTR plasma has a sufficient heating performance realizing large temperature gradients (>2000 K/m) expected under 1 F conditions. The authors selected NTR-type plasma-heating technology that has the advantage of continuous heating in addition to its high-temperature level. A prototype large-scale experiment (1 m × 0.3 m dia.), called CMMR-0, was conducted in 2016, in which a large temperature gradient was realized and basic characteristics of a heated test assembly were studied. However, the maximum temperature was limited in this test by the instability of the plasma torch under low-oxygen concentrations. It was clarified through this test that an improvement in plasma-heating technology was necessary to heat the large-scale test assembly. The CMMR-1/-2 experiments were carried out in 2017 with a test assembly similar to CMMR-0, applying the improved technology (higher heating power and controlled oxygen concentration). In these two tests, heating history was different, resulting in similar physical responses with more pronounced material melting and relocation in the CMMR-2 experiment. The CMMR-2 experiment was selected from the perspective of establishing an experimental technology. The CMMR-2 experiment adopted a 30-min heating period, wherein the power was increased to a level where a large temperature gradient was expected at the lower part of the core under actual 1 F accident conditions. Most of the control blade and channel box migrated from the original position. After heating, the simulated fuel assembly was measured by X-ray-computed tomography (CT) technology and by electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA). CT pictures and elemental mapping demonstrated its excellent performance with rather good precision. Based on these results, an excellent perspective, in terms of applicability of the NTR-type plasma-heating technology to the SA experimental study, was obtained.