Modeling of critical conditions in a fuel cell of a nuclear reactor based on combustion of energetic SHS systems

It is shown that critical conditions (temperature and pressure) in a fuel cell (metal tube piece) of a model nuclear reactor can be produced by burning energetic thermite SHS systems. The heating temperature of the zirconium or steel tube can be controlled by varying the composition of the thermite mixture, the gap between the thermite pellet and the tube wall, and the design of the thermite pellet. The results of the studies show that a WO$_3$–2Al based thermite mixture can be used to model an emergency situation (without the use of radioactive fuel) in the reactor fuel cell.