In Fig. 1, some European test facilities capable to perform thermal-hydraulic tests with passive safety systems are shown. It is evident that the wide spread of power and pressures will allow the testing of the same component in several facilities of different size and thus increasing the confidence in the assessment of the effectiveness of this component. It has to be mentioned that the PANDA test facility has a larger volume than the other test facilities.

European test facilities to perform thermal-hydraulic tests with passive safety

In Fig. 2, the layout of the NOKO facility is shown [4]. In principle, the facility consists of

three loops:

1) The high pressure (<10MPa) "primary" loop with the electrically heated boiler (<4 MW), the recirculation pump, the steam-water separator, the pressure vessel and the test object (passive initiator, emergency condenser, building condenser or plate condenser).

2) The medium pressure (<1-1.5 MPa) "secondary" loop with the condenser tank with inlet and outlet pipes for the different fluids (water, steam, non-condensables).

3) The ambient pressure "auxiliary" loop with condensation tank and heat exchanger which is cooled by river water or via a cooling tower.

A commonly used instrumentation is installed.

2.4. The NOKO Data Bank

Data as well as drawings, calculations and reports are stored in a data bank; all information are available through the Internet — protected by a password. In Fig. 3 an overview is given.