Flame acceleration and DDT of hydrogen-air-steam mixtures in practice-near chains of spaces.. Feasibility study on the construction of an underground test facility. Final report

During core meltdown accidents there is the danger of hydrogen being released in the containment, forming a mixture with air and steam. If this mixture is ignited, the deflagrative fire may develop into a detonation. The reactor containment is not designed to resist the pressures created by the detonation. The report contains a feasibilty study into the construction and operation of an underground test facility for bench-scale studies into the conditions governing the onset of deflagration-detonation transition (DDT). The site selected for the experimental facility is the tin ore mine at Ehrenfriedersdorf (near Chemnitz/Saxonia). (HP)