Resuspension of Fission Product Aerosols from the Boiling Sump

This chapter discusses the contribution of resuspended aerosol to the overall source term of low consequence accident sequences. The chapter covers two areas. First, an assessment is made of the relevance to the source term of aerosol particles resuspended from the sump, particles which were depleted from the airborne state and subsequently collected in the sump water. Second, first results of the REST (resuspension source term) experimental program will be presented. The resuspension of particles from the sump is a potential long term source of aerosols. In order that resuspension contribute significantly to the overall aerosol balance, the sump needs to be boiling. The contribution of aerosols to the source term of core melt accidents in Light Water Reactors has been thoroughly investigated by code calculations. Experimental investigations of separate effects and large scale code validation programs as DEMONA and LACE improved the confidence in the codes.