Objective
Release of fission products during the late phase of a severe reactor accident could occur at a point where the integrity of the containment vessel is threatened and result in risk-dominant discharges of radioactivity to the environment. The importance of such late-phase releases has been identified in a number of probabilistic safety assessments and other sensitivity studies. However, whilst a reasonable database exists on the releases of the more volatile fission products from intact fuel, very little is known on the nature of the releases of the less volatile fission products and core materials from a degraded state. Whilst it is planned to study such late-phase releases in test FPT-4 of the Phebus programme (scheduled 1998), it will not be possible to gain a mechanistic understanding of the phenomena involved.
Therefore, the objective of this 28-month project is to provide an experimental database on the kinetics of release of fission products and core materials from molten fuel. Twelve experiments would be conducted at relatively small scale ( kg) to determine the key phenomena affecting release (ie. vaporization, bubble release, oxidation potential, impact of slag formation). The work would involve both simulant experiments (eg. trace quantities of ruthenium, barium and strontium in an agitated molten metal/metal oxide system) and active studies (involving the release of plutonium, europium, americium and other key actinides from a metal/metal oxide system). Ten further nonactive experiments would be conducted in a complementary facility to examine the release of simulant fission products from molten UO2/ZrO2 maintained at approximately 2800 C. These studies would also provide information on the volatilization of UO2. Models for the late-phase release will be developed in parallel with the experimental work; these models will be of a general form that can be included in all fission product release codes. Plant assessments would also be conducted to address the impact of the new data on issues such as the long-term coolability of molten fuel. The results from this programme should provide a good understanding of late-phase release issues and aid in interpreting the integral Phebus-FPT-4 validation experiment. This programme should generate experimental data on fission product release from molten pools, and enable theoretical models to be validated. These goals are consistent with Research Task B3.1 of the fission safety programme, and also impact on areas Bl.l Bl.4 B2.1 and B3.2. This work would enable issues identified as high priority within the international community to be resolved. The work would also complement the Phebus-FP studies, providing separate-effects data with which to interpret these key integral experiments.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project has not yet been classified with EuroSciVoc.
Be the first one to suggest relevant scientific fields and help us improve our classification service
You need to log in or register to use this function
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Data not available
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
DT2 8DH Dorchester
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.