INTERACTION OF DIOXYZIRCONIUM CERAMICS WITH 
THE SACRIFICIAL MATERIAL OF THE EUROPEAN
REACTOR TRAP

V. N. Mineev,a F. A. Akopov,a and A. S. Vlasovb 

UDC 621.039.58

The present paper discusses the complications that can 
arise in using in the core melt trap of the European nuclear reactor 
being designed a sacrificial material of 40% FeOx-60%
SiO2 composition. The investigation of the interaction of 
zirconium dioxide ceramics with the sacrificial material has permitted 
the conclusion that at a local baring of the refractory layer its 
destruction can occur. The addition of neodymium oxide to the melts 
lowers erosion and excludes regeneration of the ceramics structure. 

aInstitute of Thermal Physics of Extreme States, Joint Institute 
of High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, 13/19 Izhorskaya Str., 
Moscow, 125412, Russia; email: mineev@ihed.ras.ru
bD. I. Mendeleev Russian Chemicotechnological University, Moscow, Russia; 
email: vlasov@mht.msk.su. 
Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 77, No. 1, pp. 
3-6, January-February, 2004. Original article submitted August 4, 2003.