Understanding the behaviour of absorber elements in silver–indium–cadmium control rods during PWR severe accident sequences

In the case of a hypothetical severe accident in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), Silver–Indium–Cadmium (SIC) control rod failure occurs early during the sequence. Release of absorber melt could induce early fuel rod degradation by interaction of molten SIC alloy with fuel rod cladding, and the absorber materials could interact with the fission products, affecting significantly their speciation and transport in the primary circuit as well as their behaviour in the containment. This paper summarises the experimental and modelling progress made on this topic within SARNET over the whole project.