BWR lower head penetration failure test focusing on eutectic melting

Abstract

Decommissioning work occasioned by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F) accident of March 2011 is in progress. Severe accident (SA) analysis, testing, and internal investigation are being used to grasp the 1F internal state. A PWR system that refers to the TMI-2 accident is typical for SA codes and testing, on the other hand, a BWR system like 1F is uncommon, understanding the 1F internal state is challenging. The present study conducted the ELSA-1 test, a test that focused on damage from eutectic melting of the liquid metal pool and control rod drive (CRD), to elucidate the lower head (LH) failure mechanism in the 1F accident. The results demonstrated that depending on the condition of the melt pool formed in the lower plenum, a factor of LH boundary failure was due to eutectic melting. In addition, the state related to the CRD structure of 1F unit 2 were estimated.