| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 296154 | Nuclear Engineering and Design | 2015 | 9 Pages |
Loss of coolant accident (LOCA) in nuclear reactor has a low probability to occur, but may have significant consequences due to decaying heat of the nuclear fuel rods. During LOCA with un-mitigated station blackout (SBO) in Indian Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (IPHWR), there is a mismatch between heat generation and heat removed from the fuel channels, that results in structural failure of the fuel channels. These channels settle down at the bottom of the Calandria vessel, forming debris bed. Decay heat is absorbed by the moderator present in the Calandria vessel. The moderator level decreases due to continuous evaporation, which exposes fuel channels gradually. An experimental setup has been designed and fabricated to simulate the debris bed scenario. Experiments are conducted at different moderator levels, in the Calandria vessel and at different rated power. The temperature of the exposed rods gets stabilized with time due to steam cooling. It is observed that, the temperature is well below the melting point of the cladding, PT and CT material.
