Sustained Molten Steel/Concrete Interactions Tests: A Preliminary Report on the Feasibility of Experimental Techniques

摘要

Exploratory tests, in which large steel melts were teemed into concrete crucibles, have revealed a variety of phenomena pertinent to questions of the safety of light-water and fast nuclear reactors. An experimental demonstration of the feasibility of using induction heating to maintain 200 kilograms of stainless steel molten while in contact with concrete is described. Data are presented to show that operation of an induction coil embedded in the concrete at 120 kW was sufficient to sustain temperatures near 1500C in the melt for 10 minutes. Metal losses by gas induced expulsion from the crucible and oxidation may have been responsible for the inability to achieve higher temperatures. Techniques for monitoring melt temperatures, the compositions and temperatures of evolved gases, and concrete temperatures during the test are described.