The preliminary results of steam explosion experiments in TROI

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) launched an intermediate scale steam explosion experiment named 'Test for Real corium Interaction with water (TROI)' using reactor material to investigate the effect of material composition, multi-dimensional melt-water interaction, and hydrogen generation. The melt-water interaction is confined in a pressure vessel with the multi-dimensional fuel and water pool geometry. The cold crucible technology, where the mixture of oxide powder in a water-cooled cage is heated by high frequency induction, is employed. It minimizes unwanted inclusion of impurities during the melting process. The data acquisition system and instrumentations which measure the static and dynamic pressure, temperatures of melt and water are set up. In the first series of tests using several kg of ZrO2, melt water interaction is made in a heated water pool at 95 Celsius degrees without triggering. A steam spike pressure at about 10 bar is observed. The morphology of debris shows that there was a mild local steam explosion. The melt water interaction was monitored by video cameras. The UO2 tests are scheduled around March of 2001, in parallel with the improvements of the design of test facility. (authors)