Towards an European consensus on possible causes of MCCI ablation anisotropy in an oxidic pool

Firstly, the effective heat transfer coefficients from the bulk pool to the bottom and lateral pool interfaces deduced from MCCI experiments lead to a range of a few 100 W/m2/K. By contrast, a detailed review of possible 2D convection mechanisms shows that the individual heat convection mechanisms (without taking a crust into account) such as gas bubbling convection and solutal convection overestimates the overall heat transfer coefficient, and does not account for the main trends of 2D ablation deduced from MCCI tests, which are very dependent on the composition of concrete components and aggregates. This fact, in turn, points to the effect of more complex pool/concrete interface structures. On the basis of a thorough interpretation of the experimental database and of a detailed comparison of MCCI code predictions, a set of the most realistic and consistent assumptions are identified and major remaining uncertainties are listed.