Evaluation of Dump Tank Coolability in PHWRs During Late-Phase Severe Accident

Abstract

In some of the older design of pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs), such as in Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) and Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), in case of a severe accident, the debris/corium may cause failure of the dump port of calandria and relocate into the dump tank. The sensible and decay heat of debris/corium makes the heavy water in dump tank to boil off leaving the dry debris in dump tank. The dry debris remelt with time and the molten corium, thus, formed has the potential to breach the dump tank and move into the containment cavity, which is highly undesirable. Hence, as an accident management strategy, water is being flooded outside the dump tank using fire water hook-up lines to remove the heat from corium to cool and stabilize it and terminate the accident progression, similar to in vessel retention. However, the question is “is the molten corium coolable by this technique.” The coolability of the molten corium in dump tank as in the reactor is assessed by conducting experiments in a scaled facility using a simulant material having comparable thermophysical properties with that of corium. Melting of dry debris resting on dump tank bottom marks the beginning of the experimental investigation for present analysis. Decay heat is simulated by a set of immersed heaters inside the melt. Temperature profiles at different locations in dump tank and in the melt pool are obtained as a function of time to demonstrate the coolability with decay heat. Large temperature gradient is observed within the corium, involving high melt center temperature and low tank wall temperature suggesting formation of crust which insulates the dump tank wall from hot corium.