The Physical State of Post-Loss-of-Coolant Accident Containment Atmospheres

The mass, energy, and momentum transfer mechanisms have been analyzed in a post-loss-of-coolant accident containment atmosphere. It is established that for the duration of the pressurization transient, superheated and two-phase atmosphere regions will exist simultaneously in the containment. The saturated state will exist merely as a transitional region. For primary system breaks, containment atmosphere behavior will be dominated by the two-phase state.