A hydrodynamical analysis for reactor primary containment by energy absorption

Abstract A hydrodynamical analysis of a nuclear accident is made for an idealized reactor vessel having spherical symmetry. The partial differential equations describing the fluid motion are based upon the Von Neumann-Richtmeyer artificial-viscosity technique and are presented in Lagrangian form. A numerical solution based upon finite-difference approximations of these partial differential equations is obtained for two idealized reactor systems: 1) the reactor vessel considered as a thin membrane incapable of absorbing energy; 2) the reactor vessel considered as an effective energy-absorbing device. This analysis was performed so that the effect of the destructive component of the nuclear accident on the primary containment structure could be determined. The concept of reactor primary containment by energy absorption treated herewith was originally developed at Argonne National Laboratory.