LOFT emergency core-cooling system experiments: results from the L1-4 experiment

Results from emergency core-cooling system experiments in the Loss-of-Fluid Test facility are described. The experimental results are put in perspective by comparing them with results from the much smaller Semiscale facility and pretest predictions made with RELAP4/MOD5 computer code. Emphasis is placed on the most recent Loss-of-Fluid Test nonnuclear experiment, designated L1-4, in which the emergency core-cooling water was injected into the reactor inlet pipe, as it is in many commercial nuclear reactors. General system behavior during the decompression, emergency core-cooling water mixing phenomenon, and emergency core-cooling water bypass are evaluated