Phenomenological studies on melt-coolant interactions in the ALPHA program Original Research Article

Two series of experiments to investigate melt-coolant interactions have been performed as part of the ALPHA program at JAERI. In the melt drop steam explosion experiments, melt simulating a molten core was dropped into a pool of water. Volume fractions of the melt, water and steam in the mixing region prior to the occurrence of spontaneous steam explosions were quantified. Other characteristics of melt-coolant interactions were evaluated for settling velocity of the melt in water, propagation and expansion velocities, energy conversion ratio and debris size distribution. It was found that the probability of the occurrence of spontaneous steam explosions could be reduced by using a melt dispersion device. Measurement of void fraction in the mixing region clearly showed that the melt dispersion device enhanced steam generation. However, one experiment indicated that the use of the dispersion device could possibly result in a more energetic steam explosion. It was found that the mixing of non-condensable gas in the steam phase of the mixing region during melt dispersion played an important role for the suppression of the spontaneous steam explosion. Knowledge of the parametric effects of melt mass, ambient pressure and water temperature was extended. In the melt coolability experiments, water was poured onto the melt to investigate melt-coolant interactions in a stratified geometry where water overlies on a melt layer. Melt eruptions which could induce an explosive interaction were observed when the subcooled water was poured through a pipe nozzle. The eruption was not observed when the water was near the saturation temperature or supplied through a spray nozzle. The explosive interaction in the stratified geometry was found to be much smaller in magnitude than the steam explosion in the melt drop configuration.