ARTICLE:

• CEC REINFORCED CONCERTED ACTION ON REACTOR SAFETY: PRIMARY CIRCUIT ASPECTS OF THE SOURCE TERM PROJECT  download article

W. Balz
CEC DGXII-F, RTD Energy, Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium

B. R. Bowsher
AEA Technology, Winfrith Technology Centre, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8DH, United Kingdom

C. G. Benson
CEC DGXII-F, RTD Energy, Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium

E. Delia Loggia
AEA Technology, Winfrith Technology Centre, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8DH, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

The CEC has supported a major programme on reactor safety research. This programme was organized through a Reinforced Concerted Action, whereby effort and data from organizations within the European Union were contributed to the action. The programme was divided into eight areas including the Source Term Project. The objective of this project, which involved nineteen European organizations, was to establish a consensus on the state of knowledge and the key areas of uncertainty affecting the source term in severe accidents. Discussions to define the Source Term Project concluded that the optimum use of resources would be gained by dividing the programme into two phases. The first year (1993) was based on a series of assessments, sensitivity studies and state-of-the-art reviews to identify uncertainties in the database and areas of consensus. Work in the second phase (1994/95) was aimed at addressing these uncertainties through experiments, code developments and benchmark studies. The work encompassed fission product release from fuel, transport in the reactor coolant circuit and behaviour in the containment. Benchmark activities in support of the Phebus-FP project were also undertaken. This paper focuses on primary circuit aspects of the Source Term Project; the main results of the assessment activities are described in this paper, together with preliminary results from the experimental work conducted in the second phase.

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