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One of the more severe scenarios for a single subassembly accident in a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor is the formation of a bottled-up pool of fuel and steel in the assembly and its subsequent ...

This text has been specifically designed to prepare people with previously limited chemical knowledge for entrance into science related courses (such as Foundation and Access courses) which involve chemistry, in higher education. Until now there have been no texts available for use on these courses and this book fills that gap. Access to Chemistry effectively forms a self-study course, which is split into separate modules and units covering the full spread of concepts required for those needing a basic knowledge of chemistry. The material is presented in a friendly and easy-to-use manner which allows the student to pace their acquisition of knowledge and gain increasing confidence in order to succeed in understanding essential relevant concepts. Other useful features of this book include starter diagnostic tests, worked examples and self study tests (with answers) at the end of each unit. In addition to Access or Foundation course students and their tutors, to whom this book will prove essential, it will have an appeal also as a revision text for those needing a 'refresher' after a break in the subject. In addition, it will be of interest to members of the general public who wish to better educate themselves on chemical matters, as it provides a clear and useful insight into areas such as health, home chemicals, business market trends and gardening.

After a brief introduction to the subject of cavitation in subcooled liquids and a survey of what is known regarding the key parameters in the cavitation process for water and for sodium, the basic equations of the SIMON cavitation model for use with Lagrangian containment codes and the assumptions behind them are reviewed. Some calculations using this model are then presented which show the dissipative effect of cavitation both in uncavitated liquids transmitting tension waves and in cavitated liquids transmitting pressure waves. The cavitation which develops when pressure waves are reflected at free surfaces is also examined, and some calculated results are compared with an experiment involving this phenomenon found in the literature. The role of cavitation in the containment loading process is then discussed, and examples taken from model test calculations are adduced to show that cavitation occurs at all stages of the loading process and involves a high proportion of the total liquid volume. Again by example the point is made that in certain simple circumstances a crude pressure cut-off model of cavitation is adequate but that for other major aspects of the containment loading process such as roof impact pressures and structural deformations a more refined model is necessary.