Remote monitoring of Molten Core-Concrete Interaction experiment with Optical Fibre Sensors & perspectives to improve nuclear safety – DISCOMS project

The DISCOMS project (Distributed Sensing for Corium Monitoring and Safety) aimed at providing innovative solutions not requiring local electrical power supplies, for remote monitoring of a severe nuclear accident. The solutions are based on both long length SPNDs (Self Powered Neutron Detectors) and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	EPJ Web of conferences Vol. 225; p. 8004
Main Authors:	Maurin, L., Ferdinand, P., Bouyer, V., Denoix, A., Jouvin, G., Rougeault, S., Journeau, C., Molina, D., Tena, P., Ouerdane, Y.
Format:	Journal Article Conference Proceeding
Language:	English
Published:	Les Ulis EDP Sciences 01-01-2020
Subjects:	Ablation advices Cables concrete basemat Concrete construction Containment vessels corium Crucibles distributed measurement Electric power supplies Experiments mcci (molten core-concrete interaction) experiment Neutron counters npp (nuclear power plant) Nuclear accidents Nuclear accidents & safety Nuclear engineering Nuclear reactor containment Nuclear reactors Nuclear safety ofs (optical fibre sensor) optical sensing cables power-supply free sensors Reflectometers reflectometry Remote monitoring Remote sensors Room temperature Sensors severe nuclear accident Target detection Temperature profiles
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Summary:	The DISCOMS project (Distributed Sensing for Corium Monitoring and Safety) aimed at providing innovative solutions not requiring local electrical power supplies, for remote monitoring of a severe nuclear accident. The solutions are based on both long length SPNDs (Self Powered Neutron Detectors) and on distributed OFSs (Optical Fibre Sensors) capable to detect the onset of a severe accident, the corium pouring on the containment building concrete basemat, and its interaction with the concrete floor under the reactor vessel, until it spreads in the core catcher (EPR case). This paper mainly focuses on these last three detection targets achievable with distributed OFSs. It is based on the results of a Molten Core & Concrete Interaction (MCCI) experiment, namely VULCANO, held in June 2018 with a concrete crucible equipped with overall ~ 180 m long optical fibre sensing cables. This small scale experiment (50 kg of prototypical corium) has demonstrated the ability of distributed OFSs to remotely provide useful data during the MCCI run: i) temperature profiles images up to about 580°C (single wavelength Raman DTS reflectometer) until cooling down to room temperature, ii) high spatial-resolution frequency shifts profiles, due to combined (non-selective) strain and temperature influences (Rayleigh OFDR and Brillouin reflectometers), and iii) cables lengths ablated by the corium on sections weakened by the temperature (Raman DTS, Rayleigh OFDR, telecom and photon counting reflectometers).
ISSN:	2100-014X 2101-6275 2100-014X
DOI:	10.1051/epjconf/202022508004