Direct containment heating integral effects tests in geometries of European nuclear power plants

The DISCO test facility at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) has been used to perform experiments to investigate direct containment heating (DCH) effects during a severe accident in European nuclear power plants, comprising the EPR, the French 1300MWe plant P’4, the VVER-1000 and the German Konvoi plant. A high-temperature iron–alumina melt is ejected by steam into scaled models of the respective reactor cavities and the containment vessel. Both heat transfer from dispersed melt and combustion of hydrogen lead to containment pressurization. The main experimental findings are presented and critical parameters are identified.