Quick look data report for COMET Test U2

Investigations are underway at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) addressing methods to terminate and stabilize a core melt accident situation ex-vessel. In this approach, the molten core-concrete interaction (MCCI) begins erosion of the concrete, and after erosion proceeds to some modest depth, it exposes and unseals an array of tubes. The tubes are connected to a water reservoir pressurized by static water head. Upon unsealing, the tubes direct a flow of water into the bottom of the corium layer. The water is forced up through the melt, cooling the melt and causing it to solidify in a form that allows continued permeation and heat removal by the water. Thus, the accident progression can be halted, and the debris may be permanently cooled. The key aspect of the passive ex-vessel core retention approach described above is the ability of water injected at the bottom of a corium melt layer to quench the melt forming a coolable debris bed in the process. This process has been tested using iron-alumina thermite as a corium simulant with promising results. As a part of a collaborative research agreement between FZK and the US DOE, two scoping tests are being conducted at Argonne National Laboratory to test the FZK core retention concept using real reactor materials. The second of these two tests, denoted COMET Test U2, was successfully conducted on December 17, 1997. The objectives of this data report are to: summarize the experiment facility and operating procedure for COMET Test U2, and present the test data