Simulation of the Thermal Behaviour of UF 6 Containment Packages in Fires

Abstract

Computer simulation results concerning the thermal behaviour of a UF6 container in fires are presented. The results have been obtained using three different approximations, namely: a coarsely lumped parameter model, a heat conduction model and, finally, a finite element heat conduction model. In all cases, the sinking of the non-melted UF6 core is not considered. Effective parameters for the heat conduction were used to simulate the heat conduction through the melted material. Accordingly, the effects of the natural convection around the non-melted UF6 core are not considered. The results are compared with numerical and experimental data in order to assess the performance of the computational approaches.