3D simulation of a 500kg UO$_2$ melt in a cold crucible induction furnace

International audience; In the field of severe accident studies for nuclear generation reactors 2, 3 and 4, the Plinius-2 project aims to build a new facility to perform experiments of corium interactions tests at a large scale until 2020. In this context, the project in collaboration with ECM Technology has to define and build a furnace able to melt up to 500 kg of simulated corium of various compositions (mix of UO$_2$ ,ZrO$_2$ , steel or concrete). The work presented in this article is a 3D dimensional simulation of a large load of UO$_2$ melts in a cold crucible, including turbulence modelling, induction heating and stirring. Solidification of the oxide near the cold wall of the crucibl…