Experimental investigation of corium top flooding with sustained induction heating and MCCI
Abstract
Top-flooding of molten prototypic corium is investigated experimentally, in the presence of sustained induction heating of the melt. The melt lays on the top of a concrete layer, and consecutively to the sustained heating, molten-core concrete interaction (MCCI) occurs. The experiment is conducted in the MERELAVA facility, which enables to melt and study oxidic and steel corium (using thermite reaction or thermite plus induction heating, with a maximum capacity of 80 kg of corium). The steam flowrate generated after corium flooding is quantified through a vapor line made of a condenser and condensate tank. In the present test, the initial corium mixture is composed of 54%UO2 / 23%ZrO2 / 8%Concrete / 15%Steel (weight percentage). The water is injected in several batches. After an initial phase of dry ablation of the siliceous concrete, several water injections on the top of the melt have been realized with a total volume of 74 liters. We present an overview of the experimental setup and a summary of test conditions carried out in the facility. Steam flowrate is measured by condensing the steam and measuring the condensate mass flowrate. Heat flux estimates are provided, based on the mass flowrate analysis and heat exchanger data. Dismantling observations of the solidified ingot are also given.
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BibTeX
@article{vaux2026experimental,
title = {{Experimental investigation of corium top flooding with sustained induction heating and MCCI}},
author = {Sébastien Renaudiere de Vaux and Viviane Bouyer and Christophe Journeau and Arthur Denoix},
journal = {Annals of Nuclear Energy},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.anucene.2026.112866},
url = {https://cea.hal.science/cea-05798461v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Experimental investigation of corium top flooding with sustained induction heating and MCCI
AU - Sébastien Renaudiere de Vaux
AU - Viviane Bouyer
AU - Christophe Journeau
AU - Arthur Denoix
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Annals of Nuclear Energy
DO - 10.1016/j.anucene.2026.112866
UR - https://cea.hal.science/cea-05798461v1
AB - Top-flooding of molten prototypic corium is investigated experimentally, in the presence of sustained induction heating of the melt. The melt lays on the top of a concrete layer, and consecutively to the sustained heating, molten-core concrete interaction (MCCI) occurs. The experiment is conducted in the MERELAVA facility, which enables to melt and study oxidic and steel corium (using thermite reaction or thermite plus induction heating, with a maximum capacity of 80 kg of corium). The steam flowrate generated after corium flooding is quantified through a vapor line made of a condenser and condensate tank. In the present test, the initial corium mixture is composed of 54%UO2 / 23%ZrO2 / 8%Concrete / 15%Steel (weight percentage). The water is injected in several batches. After an initial phase of dry ablation of the siliceous concrete, several water injections on the top of the melt have been realized with a total volume of 74 liters. We present an overview of the experimental setup and a summary of test conditions carried out in the facility. Steam flowrate is measured by condensing the steam and measuring the condensate mass flowrate. Heat flux estimates are provided, based on the mass flowrate analysis and heat exchanger data. Dismantling observations of the solidified ingot are also given.
SN - 0306-4549
ER -