Transition phase in LMFBR hypothetical accidents

Mechanistic analyses of transient-under-cooling accidents have led in some cases to a mild initiating phase instead of a direct hydrodynamic disassembly of the core. The fuel is then trapped in the core by the strong mechanical surroundings and blockages formed by refrozen cladding steel and/or fuel. The formation of fuel blockages has been verified experimentally. The bottled-up core will boil on fission and decay heat, with steel as the working fluid. Boil-up in a churn turbulent flow regime may prevent recriticality due to fuel recompaction. Ultimate fuel removal from the core is probably by a two-phase blow-down after permanent leakage paths are opened. However, a vigorous recriticality can not be precluded. Reactors with void coefficients larger than that in CRBR are more likely to disassemble in the initiating phase, so the transition phase may be unique to small cores