Experiments on Steam Explosion Using Reactor Materials

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A series of steam explosion experiments using real core materials of $ZrO_2$ and corium(a mixture of $ZrO_{2}\;and\;UO_{2}$) has been performed to evaluate the risk of steam explosion load in nuclear power plants. Surprisingly, spontaneous steam explosions are observed far both materials, which have been thought to be inexplosive so far. The dynamic pressure and morphology of the debris clearly indicate the evidence of an explosion. The experimental results also indicate that $ZrO_2$ is more explosive than corium.