Molten Fuel Moderator Interaction Program at Chalk River Laboratories

The Canadian nuclear power generation industry, represented by the CANDU Owners Group (COG), has been funding an experimental program at Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) to study the interaction between molten material ejected from a fuel channel and the moderator. These experiments were designed to address one of the very low probability postulated accident events considered for CANDU 1 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors. The reactor consists of an array of horizontal fuel channels that contain the UO2 nuclear fuel and high-temperature, high-pressure heavy water coolant. Under severely restricted flow blockage conditions, approaching 100% reduction of the flow area, postulated in a fuel channel, the temperature excursion could result in fuel melting, consequential failure of the fuel channel, and ejection of the molten fuel at high pressures into the heavy water moderator at near atmospheric pressure. In preparation for these tests, a chemical mixture called a thermite, that could produce a simulated molten fuel when ignited, was developed in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory (USA). Following this thermite development, two base-case reference tests were completed. The two base-case reference tests, with no molten material present, were performed in the Molten-Fuel Moderator-Interaction (MFMI) facility at CRL. Following the base-case reference tests, a high-pressure melt ejection test using prototypical corium was conducted. The objectives of this paper are to provide an overview of the MFMI program and present the results obtained from thermite development, base-case and melt ejection experiments.