The National Aerosol Facility is a multi purpose facility for studying the aerosol behavior under simulated severe nuclear reactor accident conditions, established at IIT Kanpur. During a severe accident in nuclear power plants fission products are expected to be released in the form of aerosol particles and droplets from the degraded core. Understanding the release, transport and retention of these fission products in the reactor system components is a fundamental step towards quantifying the amount of radioactivity which could make its way to the environment. The aerosol behaviour in the primary heat transport system and in the containment system under dry as well as wet atmospheric conditions is crucial research area for nuclear safety.

Major Objectives

  • Generation of extensive data base on aerosol retention factors in representative PHT piping system for various thermal- hydraulic conditions for typical post severe accident scenarios (dry as well as wet conditions).
  • Use of the above-mentioned data base for validation of available nuclear accident aerosol code.
  • Studies on transport and growth characterisation of hygroscopic aerosol, such as CsI in presence of steam environment.
  • Studies on influence of aerosol charge on transport and deposition mechanisms.