PAHR experiments in the MELUSINE reactor

After a hypothetical accident in a fast neutron reactor core, the nuclear fuel and construction materials melt partially. In several out-of-pile devices, the melting materials and the sodium coolant come to interact thermodynamically. In short, a few seconds after the accident a bed of debris immersed in sodium is formed on a plane of steel. The PAHR program has as principal objective to study the thermodynamic behaviour of this bed in the MELUSINE reactor, taking into account the most crucial parameters that rule the phenomena. More particularly, the aim is to draw attention to the bed behaviour beyond the fusion point of the steel up to the partial fusion of the fuel. The authors describe the CELIA capsule and its instrumentation; the operation conditions of the reactor and the coupling factor; the out-of-pile materials and their operation conditions. (Auth.)