Synopsis and outcome of the QUENCH experimental program Original Research Article

The paper gives an overview of the main outcome of the QUENCH program launched in 1997 at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), formerly Karlsruhe Research Center (FZK). The research program comprises bundle experiments as well as complementary separate-effects tests. The focus of the experiments performed from 1997 to 2009 was on scenarios of severe accidents whereas that of the future test program will be on large-break loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCA) in the frame of design-basis accidents, and debris coolability, in the frame of severe accidents. The major objective of the program is to deliver experimental and analytical data to support the development and validation of quench and quench-related models as used in code systems that model severe accident progression in light water reactors.