Thermal and stress analyses of meltdown cups for LMFBR safety experiments using SLSF in-reactor loops

The test trains for the Sodium Loop Safety Facility (SLSF) in-reactor experiments, which simulate hypothetical LMFBR accidents, have a meltdown cup to protect the primary containment from the effects of molten materials. Thermal and stress analyses were performed on the cup which is designed to contain 3.6 kg of molten fuel and 2.4 kg of molten steel. Thermal analyses were performed with the Argonne-modified version fo the general heat transfer code THTB, based on the instantaneous addition of 3200 0K molten fuel with a decay heat of 9 W/gm and 1920 0K molten steel. These analyses have shown that the cup will adequately cool the molten materials. The stress analysis showed that the Inconel vessel would not fail from the pressure loading, it was also shown that brittle fracture of the tungsten liner from thermal gradients is unlikely. Therefore, the melt-down cup meets the structural design requirements. (Auth.)