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ABSTRACT
In 1979, the accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power plant showed that a large scale hydrogen explosion could occur in the containment of a nuclear reactor in a severe accident situation. More recently, the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant reminded us of the destructive effects of hydrogen explosions, and their impact on accident management. Understanding how a simple spark can cause such a devastating phenomenon is our aim in this paper. Schematically, the understanding of these phenomena requires an ability to predict the existence and speed of the reaction wave at any time during its propagation.
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Read the articleAUTHORS
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Etienne STUDER: Research engineer - Thermohydraulics and Fluid Mechanics Applications Laboratory CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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Sergey KUDRIAKOV: Research engineer - Thermohydraulics and Fluid Mechanics Applications Laboratory CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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Alberto BECCANTINI: Research engineer - Thermohydraulics and Fluid Mechanics Applications Laboratory CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
INTRODUCTION
In 1979, the Three Mile Island accident demonstrated that a massive hydrogen explosion could occur in the containment of a nuclear reactor in a severe accident situation. More recently, the Fukushima disaster served as a reminder of the destructive effects of such hydrogen explosions. Our aim is to understand how a simple spark can generate a phenomenon with such devastating effects. Schematically, understanding these phenomena requires the ability to predict the existence and speed of the reaction wave at any moment during its propagation. To achieve this goal, we first had to establish orders of magnitude and rules by determining the fundamental quantities, and then understand the couplings between the reaction zone and the compressible flow it generates during propagation.
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KEYWORDS
combustion | explosion | detonation | installations safety | gas premixed
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Physics and chemistry
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