Estimate of the thermal regimes of a flat zirconium dioxide ceramic trap during a serious reactor accident

Physical and mathematical models are constructed and a medium-term forecast is made of the thermal state of a flat trap consisting of zirconium dioxide ceramic for a serious accident in a nuclear reactor It is shown in the radiation-thermal conductivity approximation that radiation transfer strongly influences the dynamics of thermal processes developing in the trap. It is established that the time during which the temperature of the cold boundaries of the bottom and roof of the trap reaches the critical value is much shorter than the values predicted in models which neglect the role of radiation. The influence of partial permeation of melted iron oxides into the trap bottom on the quasistationary state is investigated.