Oxidation tests where single rod or tubing specimens are inductively heated do not yield conservative data for the temperature at which runaway is initiated.
The opening statement in PMR-50-93 is founded on sound science, “Petitioner requests that the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC") revise 10 C.F.R. § 50.46(b)(1) to require that the calculated maximum fuel element cladding temperature not exceed a limit based on data from multi-rod (assembly) severe fuel damage experiments.”
Petitioner is submitting this petition, dated November 17, 2009, because
Petitioner is aware that data from multi-rod (assembly) severe fuel damage experiments (e.g., the LOFT LP-FP-2 experiment) indicates that the current 10 C.F.R. § 50.46(b)(1) PCT limit of 2200 degrees Fahrenheit is non-conservative. Data from such experiments also indicates that the Baker-Just and Cathcart-Pawel equations are both non-conservative for calculating the temperature at which an autocatalytic (runaway) oxidation reaction of Zircaloy would occur in the event of a LOCA. This, in turn, indicates that the Baker-Just and Cathcart-Pawel equations are both non-conservative for calculating the metal-water reaction ratesthat would occur in the event of a LOCA.
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