Heat load imposed on reactor vessels during in-vessel retention of core melts

Highlights: • Angular heat load on reactor vessel by natural convection of oxide pool was measured. • High Ra was achieved by using mass transfer experiments based on analogy concept. • Measured Nusselt numbers agreed reasonably with the other existing studies. • Three different types of volumetric heat sources were compared. • They didn't affect the heat flux of the top plate but affected those of the reactor vessel. - Abstract: We measured the heat load imposed on reactor vessels by natural convection of the oxide pool in severe accidents. Based on the analogy between heat and mass transfer, mass transfer experiments were performed using a copper sulfate electroplating system. A modified Rayleigh number of the order 10¹⁴ was achieved in a small facility with a height of 0.1 m. Three different types of volumetric heat sources were compared and the average Nusselt number of the curved surface was 39% lower, whereas in the case of the top plate was 6% higher than in previous studies with a two-dimensional geometry due to the high Sc value of this study. Reliable experimental data on the angular heat flux ratios were reported compared to those of the BALI and SIGMA CP facilities in terms of fluctuations and consistency.