Heat load imposed on reactor vessels during in-vessel retention of core melts

We measured the heat load imposed on reactor vessels by natural convection of the oxide pool in severe accidents. Based on the analogy between heat and mass transfer, mass transfer experiments were performed using a copper sulfate electroplating system. A modified Rayleigh number of the order 1014 was achieved in a small facility with a height of 0.1 m. Three different types of volumetric heat sources were compared and the average Nusselt number of the curved surface was 39% lower, whereas in the case of the top plate was 6% higher than in previous studies with a two-dimensional geometry due to the high Sc value of this study. Reliable experimental data on the angular heat flux ratios were reported compared to those of the BALI and SIGMA CP facilities in terms of fluctuations and consistency.