BNL severe accident sequence experiments and analysis program

A major source of containment pressurization during severe accidents is the transfer of stored energy from the hot core material to available cooling water. One mode of thermal interaction involves the quench of superheated beds of debris which could be present in the reactor cavity following melt-through or failure of the reactor vessel. This work supports development of models of superheated bed quench phenomena which are to be incorporated into containment analysis computer codes such as MARCH, CONTAIN, and MEDICI. A program directed towards characterization of the behavior of superheated debris beds has been completed. This work addressed the quench of superheated debris which is postulated to exist in the reactor cavity of a PWR following melt ejection from the primary system. The debris is assumed to be cooled by a pool of water overlying the bed of hot debris. This work has led to the development of models to predict rate of steam generation during the quench process and, in addition, the ability to assess the coolability of the debris during the transient quench process. A final report on this work has been completed. This report presents a brief description of some relevant results and conclusions. 15 refs.