A MELCOR model of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 accident

Abstract A MELCOR model of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 accident was developed. The model is based on publicly available information, and the MELCOR input file is published as electronic supplementary data with this paper. According to the calculation, the reactor pressure vessel lower head failed about 53 h after the earthquake. At the end of the calculation, 30% of the fuel was still inside the reactor and 70% had been discharged to the containment. Almost all of the radioactive noble gases and 0.95% of the cesium inventory were released to the environment during the accident.