Fission product revaporization

One of the major developmental advances in severe accident analysis since the Reactor Safety Study relates to the accounting for radionuclide retention in the reactor coolant system (RCS). The retention is predicted to occur as materials released during core heatup and degradation are transported through the RCS to the break (broken pipe, relief valve, etc.). For accidents involving relatively long RCS-transit times (e.g., station blackout in PWRs), the fraction of released material predicted to remain in the RCS can be large. For example, calculations for the Surry station blackout sequence showed retention of approximately 80% of the cesium and iodine species. Factors affecting fission product revaporization are post-vessel-failure thermal hydraulics, heat loss through vessel and pipe walls, and revaporization chemistry. The accident conditions relevant to this issue range from those present immediately after vessel failure to those present after containment failure. The factors that affect fission product revaporization are discussed