Containment Evaluation under Severe Accidents (CESA): synthesis of the predictive calculations and analysis of the first experimental results obtained on the Civaux mock-up

In 1996, EDF decided to build a containment model at the scale 1:3, the MAE VA mock-up, in order to check and study the behaviour of a pre-stressed con crete containment vessel without a liner in terms of mechanical strength an d leaktightness, for loadings corresponding to its design and beyond design conditions. In parallel with the construction and testing of the mock-up, a cost-shared R&D action supported by the European Union, the CESA project, is dealing with quantification of leak rates through concrete cracks and p orosity, predictive calculations of the behaviour of the mock-up and analys is of the experimental results. In this paper, we propose a synthesis of th e main theoretical and experimental results, obtained after 2.5 years. It s hould however be noted that, due to some unexpected delays in the experimen tal programme, quite natural with such a huge and unique experimental set-u p, only the design-basis accident sequences, already performed, have been r eported in this paper. The first results are nevertheless very interesting, both from a scientific and nuclear utility point of view. (C) 2001 Elsevie r Science B.V. All rights reserved.