VIscometer Temperature Installation for corium characterization: oxide and mettalic melts with UO2
CEA, France
| Name of the facility | VITI |
| Starting year of operation | 2000 |
| Brief description | Characterization of corium properties at high temperatures (metallic, oxide melts with UO2) Oxidation at high temperature by steam (till 2500°C, solid/liquid states) Hydrogen release Nuclear fuel degradation (ATF) Qualification of mitigation concepts at high temperature for corium core catche |
| Main Severe Accident research fields | In-vessel, Ex-vessel, Corium properties, Source Term (Aerosols), containmen |
| Scale of the test facility | High-temperature cell: cylindrical, typical size 10cm diameter x 10cm height. Sample: typical size ranging from a few mm to cm. |
| Design parameters | Pressure: slight overpressure Temperature: up to 3000 K Working atmosphere: neutral (Argon, Nitrogen), reductive (Ar+H2), oxidizing (Ar+O2 or Ar+H2O mixtures) |
| Materials | Simulant, Prototypic (with nuclear depleted fuel UO2)+ fission products (non radioactive isotopes) |
| Topics | LWR SMR ATF SFR Instrumentation Corium properties Mitigation tool |
| Use of experimental databases | Corium properties measured on VITI = input data for SA codes. Separate-effect experiments to investigate fundamental phenomena at local scale for modelling and code simulation. |
| References | Synthesis of Fukushima Daiichi Cs-bearing microparticles through molten core-concrete interaction in nitrogen atmosphere: 10.1016/j.nme.2022.101253 Pyroreflectometry as a technique for the accurate measurement of very high temperatures in molten materials 10.1063/5.0092868 Measurements of Liquid AISI 304L Steel Density and Surface Tension, and Influence of SurfaceActive Elements at High Temperatures 10.1002/srin.202100624 |
