AgInCd control rod failure in the QUENCH-13 bundle test

The QUENCH off-pile experiments performed at the Karlsruhe Research Center are to investigate the high-temperature behavior of Light Water Reactor (LWR) core materials under transient conditions and in particular the hydrogen source term resulting from the water injection into an uncovered LWR core. The typical LWR-type QUENCH test bundle, which is electrically heated, consists of 21 fuel rod simulators with a total length of approximately 2.5 m. The Zircaloy-4 rod claddings and the grid spacers are identical to those used in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) whereas the fuel is represented by ZrO2 pellets. In the QUENCH-13 experiment the single unheated fuel rod simulator in the center of the test bundle was replaced by a PWR-type control rod. The QUENCH-13 experiment consisting of pre-oxidation, transient, and quench water injection at the bottom of the test section investigated the effect of an AgInCd/stainless steel/Zircaloy-4 control rod assembly on early-phase bundle degradation and on reflood behavior. Furthermore, in the frame of the EU 6th Framework Network of Excellence SARNET, release and transport of aerosols of a failed absorber rod were to be studied in QUENCH-13, which was accomplished with help of aerosol measurements performed by PSI–Switzerland and AEKI–Hungary.Control rod failure was initiated by eutectic interaction of steel cladding and Zircaloy-4 guide tube and was indicated at about 1415 K by axial peak absorber and bundle temperature responses and additionally by the on-line aerosol monitoring system. Significant releases of aerosols and melt relocation from the control rod were observed at an axial peak bundle temperature of 1650 K. At a maximum bundle temperature of 1820 K reflood from the bottom was initiated with cold water at a flooding rate of 52 g/s. There was no noticeable temperature escalation during quenching. This corresponds to the small amount of about 1 g in hydrogen production during the quench phase (compared to 42 g of H2 during the pre-reflood phases). Posttest examinations of bundle structures revealed the presence of only little relocated AgInCd melt in the form of rivulets, mainly in the coolant channels surrounding the control rod simulator and at axial elevations between the third (0.55 m) and first spacer grids (−0.1 m).Results of QUENCH-13 on the onset of absorber rod failure are in agreement with CORA results of nine experiments each containing one or more AgInCd/stainless steel/Zircaloy-4 control rod assemblies. Bundle degradation triggered by early melt formation was, however, more pronounced in the CORA experiments with maximum bundle temperatures of ∼2300 K (compared to ∼1800 K in QUENCH-13). Consequently, QUENCH-13 allowed studying the initiation of absorber rod failure by eutectic reactions of SS-Zr, and later on of AgInCd-Zr, as well as the redistribution of the absorber material within the test bundle. Furthermore, input data for modeling of aerosol release during severe accidents are considered as benefits of the experiment.