Severe accidents arising from the fusion of a nuclear reactor core must be anticipated to enhance the efficiency of their mitigation. Such accidents have occurred at TMI-2 (1979) and Fukushima (2011). Following a loss of coolant accident, core heating and oxidation of the fuel cladding followed by reflooding (injection of water) may lead to the collapse of fuel rods and formation of porous debris bed in the core. Steam produced upon reflooding may activate the exothermic oxidation of Zircaloy leading to partial melting of materials. Such evolution generates zones with reduced porosity limiting coolant penetration and/or impermeable blocked zones. In this situation, the efficiency of injecting water into the core to stop the progress of degradation and prevent the reactor core melting may be significantly reduced. In this scope, IRSN launched PEARL program to investigate the thermal hydraulics of reflooding of hot debris beds surrounded by a more permeable zone simulating the presence of intact or less damaged zones in the core. The PEARL experiments were modeled and simulated using ICARE/CATHARE code to assess the evolution of a bottom reflooding of a superheated debris bed surrounded by a bypass of larger permeability. The thermal hydraulics of the quenching process has been analyzed and the effect of each of the initial conditions on the reflooding behavior was assessed. The effect of pressure was investigated and related to the entrainment of injected water at quench front level into the bypass. An analytical model was then developed to investigate thoroughly the reflooding of a superheated heterogeneous porous medium, composed of two layers of contrasting permeability and porosity, and to describe the water entrainment in the bypass. This model computes the main variables characterizing the reflooding process such as quench front velocity, water-to-steam conversion ratio, and the flow rate of water entrained in the bypass. It provides good qualitative and quantitative results for the two-phase flow redistribution as compared to experimental results. This model has several advantages. It is written in a rather general form including the Forchheimer correction terms and non-zero cross-terms in the generalized Darcy-Forchheimer momentum equation. Variations of proposed momentum equations including changes in correlations andinterfacial friction laws can be tested easily and efficiently. Comparison of the calculations against experimental results indicated that it is necessary to include an interfacial friction law to obtain good predictions. This model allows performing fast evaluations of the efficiency of cooling bycomputing the fraction of the injected flow rate that participates in cooling. Upscaling to the reactor scale is straightforward and calculations were performed to assess the impact of geometric parameters of the debris bed (particle size, porosity, dimensions) as well as thermal hydraulic conditions (temperature, pressure, injection flow rate) on the reflooding process. Thus the model is very useful to estimate the total quenching time and the maximum temperature that could be reached by the hot debris bed at large scales. This allows assessing the probability of a successful quenching of a hot debris bed formed during a hypothetical accidental scenario.

Les accidents graves résultant de la fusion d’un coeur de réacteur nucléaire doivent être anticipés pour améliorer l’efficacité de leur mitigation. De tels accidents sont survenus à TMI-2 (1979) et à Fukushima (2011). Suite à un accident de perte de refroidissement, l’échauffement du coeur et l’oxydation de la gaine de combustible suivie d’un renoyage (injection d’eau) peuvent entraîner l’effondrement des barres de combustible et la formation d’un lit de débris dans le coeur. La vapeur produite lors du renoyage peut activer l’oxydation exothermique du Zircaloy, entraînant la fusion partielle des matériaux. Cette évolution engendre des zones à porosité réduite limitant la pénétration de l’eau et/ou des zones imperméables. Dans cette situation, l’efficacité de l’injection d’eau dans le coeur pour arrêter la progression de la dégradation et empêcher la fusion du coeur du réacteur peut être considérablement réduite. Dans ce cadre, l’IRSN a lancé le programme PEARL visant à étudier la thermohydraulique du renoyage des lits de débris chauds entourés d’une zone plus perméable simulant la présence de zones intactes ou moins endommagées dans le coeur. Dans cette thèse, les expériences PEARL ont été modélisées et simulées avec ICARE/CATHARE pour évaluer l’évolution d’un renoyage d’un lit de débris surchauffé entouré d’un bypass de perméabilité plus grande. La thermohydraulique du processus a été analysée et l’effet de différents paramètres (géométrie, conditions aux limites) sur le comportement de renoyage a été évalué. Sous certaines conditions, l’entraînement de l’eau dans le bypass a été identifié et évalué. Un modèle analytique a été mis au point ensuite pour étudier de façon approfondie le renoyage d’un milieu poreux hétérogène surchauffé composé de deux lits de débris de perméabilité et de porosité différentes et pour décrire l’entraînement de l’eau dans le bypass. Ce modèle calcule les principales variables caractérisant le processus de renoyage, telles que la vitesse du front de trempe, le taux de conversion eau-vapeur et le débit d’eau entraîné dans le bypass.Il fournit de bons résultats qualitatifs et quantitatifs concernant la redistribution du débit d’eau par rapport aux résultats expérimentaux. Ce modèle a plusieurs avantages. Il est écrit sous une forme plutôt générale incluant les termes de correction de Forchheimer et les termes croisés non nuls dans l’équation de Darcy-Forchheimer généralisée. Les différentes options des équations de quantité de mouvement proposées, y compris les changements dans les corrélations et les lois de frottement interfacial, peuvent être testées facilement. La comparaison des calculs avec les résultats expérimentaux indique qu’il est nécessaire d’inclure une loi de frottement interfacial pour obtenir de bonnes prédictions. L’extrapolation à l’échelle du réacteur est simple et des calculs ont été effectués pour évaluer l’impact des paramètres géométriques du lit de débris (granulométrie, porosité, dimensions) ainsi que les conditions thermiques et hydrauliques (température, pression, débit d’injection). Ainsi, le modèle est très utile pour estimer le temps de trempe total et latempérature maximale qui pourraient être atteinte dans le lit de débris à grande échelle. Cela permet d’évaluer la probabilité de réussite du renoyage d’un lit de débris chauds formé lors d’un scénario accidentel hypothétique. / Severe accidents arising from the fusion of a nuclear reactor core must be anticipated to enhance the efficiency of their mitigation. Such accidents have occurred at TMI-2 (1979) and Fukushima (2011). Following a loss of coolant accident, core heating and oxidation of the fuel cladding followed by reflooding (injection of water) may lead to the collapse of fuel rods and formation of porous debris bed in the core. Steam produced upon reflooding may activate the exothermic oxidation of Zircaloy leading to partial melting of materials. Such evolution generates zones with reduced porosity limiting coolant penetration and/or impermeable blocked zones. In this situation, the efficiency of injecting water into the core to stop the progress of degradation and prevent the reactor core melting may be significantly reduced. In this scope, IRSN launched PEARL program to investigate the thermal hydraulics of reflooding of hot debris beds surrounded by a more permeable zone simulating the presence of intact or less damaged zones in the core. The PEARL experiments were modeled and simulated using ICARE/CATHARE code to assess the evolution of a bottom reflooding of a superheated debris bed surrounded by a bypass of larger permeability. The thermal hydraulics of the quenching process has been analyzed and the effect of each of the initial conditions on the reflooding behavior was assessed. The effect of pressure was investigated and related to the entrainment of injected water at quench front level into the bypass. An analytical model was then developed to investigate thoroughly the reflooding of a superheated heterogeneous porous medium, composed of two layers of contrasting permeability and porosity, and to describe the water entrainment in the bypass. This model computes the main variables characterizing the reflooding process such as quench front velocity, water-to-steam conversion ratio, and the flow rate of water entrained in the bypass. It provides good qualitative and quantitative results for the two-phase flow redistribution as compared to experimental results. This model has several advantages. It is written in a rather general form including the Forchheimer correction terms and non-zero cross-terms in the generalized Darcy-Forchheimer momentum equation. Variations of proposed momentum equations including changes in correlations andinterfacial friction laws can be tested easily and efficiently. Comparison of the calculations against experimental results indicated that it is necessary to include an interfacial friction law to obtain good predictions. This model allows performing fast evaluations of the efficiency of cooling bycomputing the fraction of the injected flow rate that participates in cooling. Upscaling to the reactor scale is straightforward and calculations were performed to assess the impact of geometric parameters of the debris bed (particle size, porosity, dimensions) as well as thermal hydraulic conditions (temperature, pressure, injection flow rate) on the reflooding process. Thus the model is very useful to estimate the total quenching time and the maximum temperature that could be reached by the hot debris bed at large scales. This allows assessing the probability of a successful quenching of a hot debris bed formed during a hypothetical accidental scenario.