HYDROGEN GENERATION AND BLANKETING ASSESSMENT FOR SEVERE ACCIDENTS

THE ACCIDENT AT TMI DEMONSTRATED THAT LARGE QUANTITIES OF HYDROGEN CAN BE GENERATED AS A RESULT OF ZIRCONIUM-STEAM OXIDATION REACTION, WHICH POSES A HYDROGEN BURN THREAT IN LWR CONTAINMENTS. THE RATES AT WHICH THE CORE HEATS UP AND WHICH HYDROGEN IS GENERATED DEPENDS UPON THE ZIRONIUM-STEAM REACTION RATE, WHICH IN TURN IS INFLUENCED BY LOCAL STEAM SMSTARVATION AND HYDROGEN BLANKETING EFFECTS. THE PURP0SE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PERFORM A SYNTHESIZED ANALYSIS OF RECENT PBF, NRU, AND ACRR TEST DATA IN TERMS OF HYDROGEN GENERATION AND ITS BLANKETING EFFECT ON THE REACTION PROCESS. SUCH WORK IS IN SUPPORT OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH TOADVANCE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY ON FUEL ASSEMBLY BEHAVIOR FOR SEVERE ACCIDENTS, AND ASSESS THE NEED FOR AND DESIGN LIMITS OF CONTAINMENT HYDROGEN CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE POWER PLANTS.