Thermal-Hydraulic Aspects of Progression to Severe Accidents in CANDU Reactors

The progression of events that develop into an accident with severe fuel or core damage in the Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactor is discussed. Such events involve a number of broadly common stages in which the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the reactor fuel, fuel channels, heat transport system, and a number of key process systems governs both the rate at which severely degraded cooling conditions develop and the extent of resultant …