Program on containment penetration leakage

The objective of the Integrity of Containment Penetrations Under Severe Accidents Loads Program is to determine the major characteristics of containment penetrations that could contribute to leakage during severe accidents. Methodology is being developed that can be used to provide predictions of penetrations leakage behavior under severe accident conditions. Pressure, temperature and deformation of the penetration by the containment shell are being considered. The end result of the research, when coupled with analytical predictions of the deformation response of penetrations in containments, will allow the evaluation of severe accident conditions under which the integrated leakage through penetrations will limit the capacity of the containment and hence affect public health and safety. This evaluation method should permit a determination whether the capacity is limited by the shell or by the penetrations. The methodology will be primarily based on experimental investigations.