A framework for the assessment of severe accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, W.E.; Apostolakis, G.; Dhir, V.K.

1993-09-01

Severe accident management can be defined as the use of existing and/or altemative resources, systems and actors to prevent or mitigate a core-melt accident. For each accident sequence and each combination of severe accident management strategies, there may be several options available to the operator, and each involves phenomenological and operational considerations regarding uncertainty. Operational uncertainties include operator, system and instrumentation behavior during an accident. A framework based on decision trees and influence diagrams has been developed which incorporates such criteria as feasibility, effectiveness, and adverse effects, for evaluating potential severe accident management strategies. The framework is also capable of propagating both data and model uncertainty. It is applied to several potential strategies including PWR cavity flooding, BWR drywell flooding, PWR depressurization and PWR feed and bleed

A framework for the assessment of severe accident management strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kastenberg, W.E. [ed.; Apostolakis, G.; Dhir, V.K. [California Univ., Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering] [and others

1993-09-01

Severe accident management can be defined as the use of existing and/or altemative resources, systems and actors to prevent or mitigate a core-melt accident. For each accident sequence and each combination of severe accident management strategies, there may be several options available to the operator, and each involves phenomenological and operational considerations regarding uncertainty. Operational uncertainties include operator, system and instrumentation behavior during an accident. A framework based on decision trees and influence diagrams has been developed which incorporates such criteria as feasibility, effectiveness, and adverse effects, for evaluating potential severe accident management strategies. The framework is also capable of propagating both data and model uncertainty. It is applied to several potential strategies including PWR cavity flooding, BWR drywell flooding, PWR depressurization and PWR feed and bleed.

Study On Safety Analysis Of PWR Reactor Core In Transient And Severe Accident Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Dai Dien; Hoang Minh Giang; Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy; Nguyen Thi Tu Oanh; Le Thi Thu; Pham Tuan Nam; Tran Van Trung; Le Van Hong; Vo Thi Huong

2014-01-01

The cooperation research project on the Study on Safety Analysis of PWR Reactor Core in Transient and Severe Accident Conditions between Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology (INST), VINATOM and Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Korea has been setup to strengthen the capability of researches in nuclear safety not only in mastering the methods and computer codes, but also in qualifying of young researchers in the field of nuclear safety analysis. Through the studies on the using of thermal hydraulics computer codes like RELAP5, COBRA, FLUENT and CFX the thermal hydraulics research group has made progress in the research including problems for safety analysis of APR1400 nuclear reactor, PIRT methodologies and sub-channel analysis. The study of severe accidents has been started by using MELCOR in collaboration with KAERI experts and the training on the fundamental phenomena occurred in postulated severe accident. For Vietnam side, VVER-1000 nuclear reactor is also intensively studied. The design of core catcher, reactor containment and severe accident management are the main tasks concerning VVER technology. The research results are presented in the 9 th National Conference on Mechanics, Ha Noi, December 8-9, 2012, the 10 th National Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology, Vung Tau, August 14-15, 2013, as well as published in the journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, Vietnam Nuclear Society and other journals. The skills and experience from using computer codes like RELAP5, MELCOR, ANSYS and COBRA in nuclear safety analysis are improved with the nuclear reactors APR1400, Westinghouse 4 loop PWR and especially the VVER-1000 chosen for the specific studies. During cooperation research project, man power and capability of Nuclear Safety center of INST have been strengthen. Three masters were graduated, 2 researchers are engaging in Ph.D course at Hanoi University of Science and Technology and University of Science and Technology, Korea

Regulatory Research of the PWR Severe Accident. Information Needs and Instrumentation for Hydrogen Control and Management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Gun Chul; Suh, Kune Y.; Lee, Jin Yong; Lee, Seung Dong [Seoul Nat' l Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2001-03-15

The current research is concerned with generation of basic engineering data needed in the process of developing hydrogen control guidelines as part of accident management strategies for domestic nuclear power plants and formulating pertinent regulatory requirements. Major focus is placed on identification of information needs and instrumentation methods for hydrogen control and management in the primary system and in the containment, development of decision-making trees for hydrogen management and their quantification, the instrument availability under severe accident conditions, critical review of relevant hydrogen generation model and phenomena In relation to hydrogen behavior, we analyzed the severe accident related hydrogen generation in the UCN 3{center_dot}4 PWR with modified hydrogen generation model. On the basis of the hydrogen mixing experiment and related GASFLOW calculation, the necessity of 3-dimensional analysis of the hydrogen mixing was investigated. We examined the hydrogen control models related to the PAR(Passive Autocatalytic Recombiner) and performed MAAP4 calculation in relation to the decision tree to estimate the capability and the role of the PAR during a severe accident.

Regulatory Research of the PWR Severe Accident. Information Needs and Instrumentation for Hydrogen Control and Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Gun Chul; Suh, Kune Y.; Lee, Jin Yong; Lee, Seung Dong

2001-03-01

The current research is concerned with generation of basic engineering data needed in the process of developing hydrogen control guidelines as part of accident management strategies for domestic nuclear power plants and formulating pertinent regulatory requirements. Major focus is placed on identification of information needs and instrumentation methods for hydrogen control and management in the primary system and in the containment, development of decision-making trees for hydrogen management and their quantification, the instrument availability under severe accident conditions, critical review of relevant hydrogen generation model and phenomena In relation to hydrogen behavior, we analyzed the severe accident related hydrogen generation in the UCN 3·4 PWR with modified hydrogen generation model. On the basis of the hydrogen mixing experiment and related GASFLOW calculation, the necessity of 3-dimensional analysis of the hydrogen mixing was investigated. We examined the hydrogen control models related to the PAR(Passive Autocatalytic Recombiner) and performed MAAP4 calculation in relation to the decision tree to estimate the capability and the role of the PAR during a severe accident

Assessment of severe accident prevention and mitigation features: PWR, large dry containment design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perkins, K.R.; Hsu, C.J.; Lehner, J.R.; Luckas, W.J.; Cho, N.; Fitzpatrick, R.G.; Pratt, W.T.; Eltawila, F.; Maly, J.A.

1988-07-01

Plant features and operator actions which have been found to be important in either preventing or mitigating severe accidents in PWRs with large dry containments have been identified. These features and actions were developed from insights derived from reviews of risk assessments performed specifically for the Zion plant and from assessments of other relevant studies. Accident sequences that dominate the core-damage frequency and those accident sequences that are of potentially high consequence were identified. Vulnerabilities of the large dry containment to severe accident containment loads were also identified. In addition, those features of a PWR with a large dry containment, which are important for preventing core damage and are available for mitigating fission-product release to the environment were identified. The report is issued to provide focus to the analyst examining an individual plant. The report calls attention to plant features and operator actions and provides a list of deterministic tributes for assessing those features and actions found to be helpful in reducing the overall risk for Zion and other PWRs with large dry containments. Thus, the guidance is offered as a resource in examining the subject plant to determine if the same, or similar, plant features and operator actions will be of value in reducing overall plant risk. This report is intended to serve solely as guidance

Assessment of severe accident prevention and mitigation features: PWR, ice-condenser containment design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, C.J.; Perkins, K.R.; Luckas, W.J.; Fitzpatrick, R.G.; Cho, N.; Lehner, J.R.; Pratt, W.T.; Eltawila, F.; Maly, J.A.

1988-07-01

Plant features and operator actions which have been found to be important in either preventing and mitigating severe accidents in PWRs with ice-condenser containments have been identified. Thus features and actions were developed from insights derived from reviews of risk assessments performed specifically for the Sequoyah plant and from assessments of other relevant studies. Accident sequences that dominate the core-damage frequency and those accident sequences that are of potentially high consequence were identified. Vulnerabilities of the ice-condenser containment to sever accident containment loads were also identified. In addition, those features of a PWR with an ice-condenser containment, which are important for preventing core damage and are available for mitigating fission-product release to the environment were identified. This report is issued to provide focus to an analyst examining an individual plant. The report calls attention to plant features and operator actions and provides a list of deterministic attributes for assessing those features and actions found to be helpful in reducing the overall risk for Sequoyah and other PWRs with ice-condenser containments. Thus, the guidance is offered as a resource in examining the subject plant to determine if the same, or similar, plant features and operator actions will be of value in reducing overall plant risk. This report is intended to serve solely as guidance. 14 tabs

Study on entry criteria for severe accident management during hot leg LBLOCAs in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Longfei; Zhang, Dafa; Wang, Shaoming

2007-01-01

The risk of Large Break Loss of Coolant Accidents (LBLOCA) has been considered an important safety issue since the beginning of the nuclear power industry. The rapid depressurization occurs in the primary coolant circuit when a large break appears in a Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR).Then the coolant temperature reaches saturation at a very low pressure. The core outlet fluid temperatures maybe not reliable indicators of the core damage states at a such lower pressure. The problem is how to decide the time for water injection in the SAM (Severe Accident Management). An alternative entry criterion is the fluid temperature just above the hot channel in which the fluid temperature showed maximum among all the channels. For that reason, a systematic study of entry criterion of SAM for different hot leg break sizes in a 3-loop PWR has been started using the detailed system thermal hydraulic and severe accident analysis code package, RELAP/SCDAPSIM. Best estimate calculations of the large break LOCA of 15 cm, 20 cm and 25 cm without accident managements and in the case of high-pressure safety injection as the accident management were performed in this paper. The analysis results showed that the core exit temperatures are not reliable indicators of the peak core temperatures and core damage states once peak core temperatures reach 1500 K, and the proposed entry criteria for SAM at the time when the core outlet temperature reaches 900 K is not effective to prevent core melt. Then other analyses were performed with a parameter of fluid temperature just above the hot channel. The latter analysis showed that earlier water injection when the fluid temperature just above the hot channel reaches 900 K is effective to prevent further core melt. Since fuel surface and hot channel have spatial distribution and depend on a period of cycle operation, a series of thermocouples are required to install just above the fuel assembly. The maximum exit temperature of 900 K that captured by

Severe accident analysis in a two-loop PWR nuclear power plant with the ASTEC code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadek, Sinisa; Amizic, Milan; Grgic, Davor

2013-01-01

The ASTEC/V2.0 computer code was used to simulate a hypothetical severe accident sequence in the nuclear power plant Krsko, a 2-loop pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant. ASTEC is an integral code jointly developed by Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN, France) and Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS, Germany) to assess nuclear power plant behaviour during a severe accident. The analysis was conducted in 2 steps. First, the steady state calculation was performed in order to confirm the applicability of the plant model and to obtain correct initial conditions for the accident analysis. The second step was the calculation of the station blackout accident with a leakage of the primary coolant through degraded reactor coolant pump seals, which was a small LOCA without makeup capability. Two scenarios were analyzed: one with and one without the auxiliary feedwater (AFW). The latter scenario, without the AFW, resulted in earlier core damage. In both cases, the accident ended with a core melt and a reactor pressure vessel failure with significant release of hydrogen. In addition, results of the ASTEC calculation were compared with results of the RELAP5/SCDAPSIM calculation for the same transient scenario. The results comparison showed a good agreement between predictions of those 2 codes. (orig.)

Design consideration on severe accident for future LWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omoto, A.

1998-01-01

Utilities' Severe Accident Management strategies, selected based on Individual Plant Examination, are in the process of implementation for each operating plant. Activities for the next generation LWR design are going on by Utilities, NSSS vendors and Research Institutes. The proposed new designs vary from evolutionary design to revolutionary design such as the supercritical LWR. Discussion on the consideration of Severe Accident in the design of next generation LWR is being held to establish the industry's self-regulatory document on containment design and its performance, which ABWR-IER (Improved Evolutionary Reactor) on the part of BWR and Evolutionary APWR and New PWR21 on the part of PWR are expected to comply. Conceptual design study for ABWR-IER will illustrate an example of design approach for the prevention and mitigation of Severe Accident and its impact on capital cost

Investigation of conditions inside the reactor building annulus of a PWR plant of KONVOI type in case of severe accidents with increased containment leakages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakalov, Ivan; Sonnenkalb, Martin

2018-01-01

Improvements of the implemented severe accident management (SAM) concepts have been done in all operating German NPPs after the Fukushima Daiichi accidents following recommendations of the German Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) and as a result of the stress test being performed. The efficiency of newly developed severe accident management guidelines (SAMG) for a PWR KONVOI reference plant related to the mitigation of challenging conditions inside the reactor building (RB) annulus due to increased containment leakages during severe accidents have been assessed. Based on two representative severe accident scenarios the releases of both hydrogen and radionuclides into the RB annulus have been predicted with different boundary conditions. The accident scenarios have been analysed without and with the impact of several SAM measures (already planned or proposed in addition), which turned out to be efficient to mitigate the consequences. The work was done within the frame of a research project financially supported by the Federal Ministry BMUB.

Investigation of conditions inside the reactor building annulus of a PWR plant of KONVOI type in case of severe accidents with increased containment leakages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bakalov, Ivan [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH, Berlin (Germany); Sonnenkalb, Martin [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH, Koeln (Germany)

2018-02-15

Improvements of the implemented severe accident management (SAM) concepts have been done in all operating German NPPs after the Fukushima Daiichi accidents following recommendations of the German Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) and as a result of the stress test being performed. The efficiency of newly developed severe accident management guidelines (SAMG) for a PWR KONVOI reference plant related to the mitigation of challenging conditions inside the reactor building (RB) annulus due to increased containment leakages during severe accidents have been assessed. Based on two representative severe accident scenarios the releases of both hydrogen and radionuclides into the RB annulus have been predicted with different boundary conditions. The accident scenarios have been analysed without and with the impact of several SAM measures (already planned or proposed in addition), which turned out to be efficient to mitigate the consequences. The work was done within the frame of a research project financially supported by the Federal Ministry BMUB.

Influence of boron reduction strategies on PWR accident management flexibility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papukchiev, Angel Aleksandrov; Liu, Yubo; Schaefer, Anselm

2007-01-01

In conventional pressurized water reactor (PWR) designs, soluble boron is used for reactivity control over core fuel cycle. Design changes to reduce boron concentration in the reactor coolant are of general interest regarding three aspects - improved reactivity feedback properties, lower impact of boron dilution scenarios on PWR safety and eventually more flexible accident management procedures. In order to assess the potential advantages through the introduction of boron reduction strategies in current PWRs, two low boron core configurations based on fuel with increased utilization of gadolinium and erbium burnable absorbers have been developed. The new PWR designs permit to reduce the natural boron concentration in reactor coolant at begin of cycle to 518 ppm and 805 ppm. For the assessment of the potential safety advantages of these cores a hypothetical beyond design basis accident has been simulated with the system code ATHLET. The analyses showed improved inherent safety and increased accident management flexibility of the low boron cores in comparison with the standard PWR. (author)

Severe accident testing of electrical penetration assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clauss, D.B.

1989-11-01

This report describes the results of tests conducted on three different designs of full-size electrical penetration assemblies (EPAs) that are used in the containment buildings of nuclear power plants. The objective of the tests was to evaluate the behavior of the EPAs under simulated severe accident conditions using steam at elevated temperature and pressure. Leakage, temperature, and cable insulation resistance were monitored throughout the tests. Nuclear-qualified EPAs were produced from D. G. O'Brien, Westinghouse, and Conax. Severe-accident-sequence analysis was used to generate the severe accident conditions (SAC) for a large dry pressurized-water reactor (PWR), a boiling-water reactor (BWR) Mark I drywell, and a BWR Mark III wetwell. Based on a survey conducted by Sandia, each EPA was matched with the severe accident conditions for a specific reactor type. This included the type of containment that a particular EPA design was used in most frequently. Thus, the D. G. O'Brien EPA was chosen for the PWR SAC test, the Westinghouse was chosen for the Mark III test, and the Conax was chosen for the Mark I test. The EPAs were radiation and thermal aged to simulate the effects of a 40-year service life and loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) before the SAC tests were conducted. The design, test preparations, conduct of the severe accident test, experimental results, posttest observations, and conclusions about the integrity and electrical performance of each EPA tested in this program are described in this report. In general, the leak integrity of the EPAs tested in this program was not compromised by severe accident loads. However, there was significant degradation in the insulation resistance of the cables, which could affect the electrical performance of equipment and devices inside containment at some point during the progression of a severe accident. 10 refs., 165 figs., 16 tabs

Comparative analysis of station blackout accident progression in typical PWR, BWR, and PHWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Soo Young; Ahn, Kwang Il

2012-01-01

Since the crisis at the Fukushima plants, severe accident progression during a station blackout accident in nuclear power plants is recognized as a very important area for accident management and emergency planning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the comparative characteristics of anticipated severe accident progression among the three typical types of nuclear reactors. A station blackout scenario, where all off-site power is lost and the diesel generators fail, is simulated as an initiating event of a severe accident sequence. In this study a comparative analysis was performed for typical pressurized water reactor (PWR), boiling water reactor (BWR), and pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). The study includes the summarization of design differences that would impact severe accident progressions, thermal hydraulic/severe accident phenomenological analysis during a station blackout initiated-severe accident; and an investigation of the core damage process, both within the reactor vessel before it fails and in the containment afterwards, and the resultant impact on the containment.

Analysis of Hydrogen Control Strategy Using Igniter during Severe Accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sung Bok; Kim, Hyeong Taek; Lee, Keo Hyoung

2008-01-01

The Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMGs) for the operating pressurized water reactor (PWR) have been completed within 2006. Among the SAMG strategies, mitigation-07 is the most important strategy for managing a severe accident of a PWR in order to reduce containment hydrogen. The fastest way to reduce the containment hydrogen concentration is to intentionally ignite the hydrogen. For this strategy, igniters exist in Optimized Power Reactor 1000 (OPR 1000) to burn hydrogen for a severe accident. For using the igniters during a severe accident, the adverse effects such as the explosion of the hydrogen mixture should be considered for containment integrity. However, an applicable discrimination method to activate the igniters does not exist, so that the hydrogen control strategy using the igniters cannot be chosen during a severe accident. Thus, this study focused on suggesting an applicable discrimination method to carry out the strategy of using the igniters. In this study, the specific plant used for this analysis is Ulchin Unit 5 and 6, OPR 1000 plant, in Korea

A study on the estimation of economic consequence of severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Dae Seok; Lee, Kun Jai; Jeong, Jong Tae

1996-01-01

A model to estimate economic consequence of severe accident provides some measure of the impact on the accident and enables to know the different effects of the accident described as same terms of cost and combined as necessary. Techniques to assess the consequences of accidents in terms of cost have many applications, for instance in examining countermeasure options, as part of either emergency planning or decision making after an accident. In this study, a model to estimate the accident economic consequence is developed appropriate to our country focused on PWR accident costs from a societal viewpoint. Societal costs are estimated by accounting for losses that directly affect the plant licensee, the public, the nuclear industry, or the electric utility industry after PWR accident

Comparison of computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Dunbar, I.; Gauvain, J.; Ricchena, R.

1986-02-01

The present study concerns a comparative exercise, performed within the framework of the Commission of the European Communities, of the computer codes (AEROSISM-M, UK; AEROSOLS/BI, France; CORRAL-2, CEC and NAUA Mod5, Germany) used in order to assess the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

Serious accidents of PWR type reactors for power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-12-01

This document presents the great lines of current knowledge on serious accidents relative to PWR type reactors. First, is exposed the physics of PWR type reactor core meltdown and the possible failure modes of the containment building in such a case. Then, are presented the dispositions implemented with regards to such accidents in France, particularly the pragmatic approach that prevails for the already built reactors. Then, the document tackles the case of the European pressurized reactor (E.P.R.), for which the dimensioning takes into account explicitly serious accidents: it is a question of objectives conception and their respect must be the object of a strict demonstration, by taking into account uncertainties. (N.C.)

Integrity of PWR pressure vessels during overcooling accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheverton, R.D.; Iskander, S.K.; Whitman, G.D.

1982-01-01

The reactor pressure vessel in a pressurized water reactor is normally subjected to temperatures and pressures that preclude propagation of sharp, crack-like defects that might exist in the wall of the vessel. However, there is a class of postulated accidents, referred to as overcooling accidents, that can subject the pressure vessel to severe thermal shock while the pressure is substantial. As a result of such accidents vessels containing high concentrations of copper and nickel, which enhance radiation embrittlement, may possess a potential for extensive propagation of preexistent inner surface flaws prior to the vessel's normal end of life. For the purpose of evaluating this problem a state-of-the-art fracture mechanics model was developed and has been used for conducting parametric analyses and for calculating several recorded PWR transients. Results of the latter analysis indicate that there may be some vessels that have a potential for failure today if subjected to a Rancho Seco (1978) or TMI-2 (1979) type transient. However, the calculational model may be excessively conservative, and this possibility is under investigation

Integrity of PWR pressure vessels during overcooling accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheverton, R.D.; Iskander, S.K.; Whitman, G.D.

1982-01-01

The reactor pressure vessel in a pressurized water reactor is normally subjected to temperatures and pressures that preclude propagation of sharp, crack-like defects that might exist in the wall of the vessel. However, there is a class of postulated accidents, referred to as overcooling accidents, that can subject the pressure vessel to severe thermal shock while the pressure is substantial. As a result of such accidents, vessels containing high concentrations of copper and nickel, which enhance radiation embrittlement, may possess a potential for extensive propagation of preexistent inner surface flaws prior to the vessel's normal end of life. A state-of-the-art fracture-mechanics model was developed and has been used for conducting parametric analyses and for calculating several recorded PWR transients. Results of the latter analysis indicate that there may be some vessels that have a potential for failure in a few years if subjected to a Rancho Seco-type transient. However, the calculational model may be excessively conservative, and this possibility is under investigation

Use of probabilistic safety analyses in severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neogy, P.; Lehner, J.

1991-01-01

An important consideration in the development and assessment of severe accident management strategies is that while the strategies are often built on the knowledge base of Probabilistic Safety Analyses (PSA), they must be interpretable and meaningful in terms of the control room indicators. In the following, the relationships between PSA and severe accident management are explored using ex-vessel accident management at a PWR ice-condenser plant as an example. 2 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs

Jose Cabrera NPP severe accident management activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanco, J.; Almeida, P.; Saiz, J.; Sastre, J.L.; Delgado, R.

1998-01-01

To prepare a common acting plan with respect to Severe Accident Management, in 1994 was founded the severe accident management ''ad-hoc'' working group from the Spanish Westinghouse PWR Nuclear Power Plant Owners Group. In this group actively collaborated the Jose Cabrera NPP Training Centre and the Department of Nuclear Engineering of UNION FENOSA. From this moment, Jose Cabrera NPP began the planning of its specific Severe Accident Management Program, which main point are Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMG). To elaborate this guidelines, the Spanish translation of Westinghouse Owners Group (WOG) Severe Accident Management Guidelines were considered the reference documents. The implementation of this Guidelines to Jose Cabrera NPP started on January 1997. Once the specific guidelines have been implemented to the plant, training activities for the personnel involved in severe accident issues will be developed. To prepare the training exercises MAAP4 code will be used, and with this intention, a specific Jose Cabrera NPP MAAP-GRAAPH screen has been developed. Furthermore, a wide selection of MAAP input files for the simulation of different scenarios and accidental events is available. (Author)

Categorization of PWR accident sequences and guidelines for fault trees: seismic initiators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, C.Y.

1984-09-01

This study developed a set of dominant accident sequences that could be applied generically to domestic commercial PWRs as a standardized basis for a probabilistic seismic risk assessment. This was accomplished by ranking the Zion 1 accident sequences. The pertinent PWR safety systems were compared on a plant-by-plant basis to determine the applicability of the dominant accident sequences of Zion 1 to other PWR plants. The functional event trees were developed to describe the system functions that must work or not work in order for a certain accident sequence to happen, one for pipe breaks and one for transients

PWR accident management realated tests: some Bethsy results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clement, P.; Chataing, T.; Deruaz, R.

1993-01-01

The BETHSY integral test facility which is a scaled down model of a 3 loop FRAMATOME PWR and is currently operated at the Nuclear Center of Grenoble, forms an important part of the French strategy for PWR Accident Management. In this paper the features of both the facility and the experimental program are presented. Two accident transients: a total loss of feedwater and a 2'' cold leg break in case of High Pressure Safety Injection System failure, involving either Event Oriented - or State Oriented-Emergency Operating Procedures (EO-EOP or SO-EOP) are described and the system response analyzed. CATHARE calculation results are also presented which illustrate the ability of this code to adequately predict the key phenomena of these transients. (authors). 13 figs., 11 refs., 2 tabs

Numerical simulation of radioisotope's dependency on containment performance for large dry PWR containment under severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehboob, Khurram; Xinrong, Cao; Ahmed, Raheel; Ali, Majid

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Calculation and comparison of activity of BURN-UP code with ORIGEN2 code. • Development of SASTC computer code. • Radioisotopes dependency on containment ESFs. • Mitigation in atmospheric release with ESFs operation. • Variation in radioisotopes source term with spray flow and pH value. -- Abstract: During the core melt accidents large amount of fission products can be released into the containment building. These fission products escape into the environment to contribute in accident source term. The mitigation in environmental release is demanded for such radiological consequences. Thus, countermeasures to source term, mitigations of release of radioactivity have been studied for 1000 MWe PWR reactor. The procedure of study is divided into five steps: (1) calculation and verification of core inventory, evaluated by BURN-UP code, (2) containment modeling based on radioactivity removal factors, (3) selection of potential accidents initiates the severe accident, (4) calculation of release of radioactivity, (5) study the dependency of release of radioactivity on containment engineering safety features (ESFs) inducing mitigation. Loss of coolant accident (LOCA), small break LOCA and flow blockage accidents (FBA) are selected as initiating accidents. The mitigation effect of ESFs on source term has been studied against ESFs performance. Parametric study of release of radioactivity has been carried out by modeling and simulating the containment parameters in MATLAB, which takes BURN-UP outcomes as input along with the probabilistic data. The dependency of iodine and aerosol source term on boric and caustic acid spray has been determined. The variation in source term mitigation with the variation of containment spray flow rate and pH values have been studied. The variation in containment retention factor (CRF) has also been studied with the ESF performance. A rapid decrease in source term is observed with the increase in pH value

Natural-circulation-cooling characteristics during PWR accident simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adams, J.P.; McCreery, G.E.; Berta, V.T.

1983-01-01

A description of natural circulation cooling characteristics is presented. Data were obtained from several pressurized water reactor accident simulations in the Loss-of-Fluid Test (LOFT) pressurized water reactor (PWR). The reliability of natural circulation cooling, its cooling effectiveness, and the effect of changing system conditions are described. Quantitative comparison of flow rates and time constants with theory for both single- and two-phase fluid conditions were made. It is concluded that natural circulation cooling can be relied on in plant recovery procedures in the absence of forced convection whenever the steam generator heat sink is available

Long-Term Station Blackout Accident Analyses of a PWR with RELAP5/MOD3.3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrej Prošek

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Stress tests performed in Europe after accident at Fukushima Daiichi also required evaluation of the consequences of loss of safety functions due to station blackout (SBO. Long-term SBO in a pressurized water reactor (PWR leads to severe accident sequences, assuming that existing plant means (systems, equipment, and procedures are used for accident mitigation. Therefore the main objective was to study the accident management strategies for SBO scenarios (with different reactor coolant pumps (RCPs leaks assumed to delay the time before core uncovers and significantly heats up. The most important strategies assumed were primary side depressurization and additional makeup water to reactor coolant system (RCS. For simulations of long term SBO scenarios, including early stages of severe accident sequences, the best estimate RELAP5/MOD3.3 and the verified input model of Krško two-loop PWR were used. The results suggest that for the expected magnitude of RCPs seal leak, the core uncovery during the first seven days could be prevented by using the turbine-driven auxiliary feedwater pump and manually depressurizing the RCS through the secondary side. For larger RCPs seal leaks, in general this is not the case. Nevertheless, the core uncovery can be significantly delayed by increasing RCS depressurization.

Dose rate evaluation after accident in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cladel, C.; Duchemin, B.; Le Dieu de Ville, A.; Nimal, B.; Nimal, J.C.; Evrard, J.M.

1983-05-01

A calculation scheme for the gamma radiation dose rate after accident in a PWR is presented. These studies use a fine description of the geometry and of the fission product inventory. Some results are given and some improvements are planned

Aerosols behavior inside a PWR during an accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hervouet, C.

1983-01-01

During very hypothetical accidents occurring in a pressurized water ractor, radioactive aerosols can be released, during core-melt, inside the reactor containment building. A good knowledge of their behavior in the humid containment atmosphere (mass concentration and size distribution) is essential in order to evaluate their harmfulness in case of environment contamination and to design possible filtration devices. Accordingly the Safety Analysis Department of the Atomic Energy Commission uses several computer models, describing the particle formation (BOIL/MARCH), then behavior in the primary circuits (TRAP-MELT), and in the reactor containment building (AEROSOLS-PARFDISEKO-III B). On the one hand, these models have been improved, in particular the one related to the aerosol formation (nature and mass of released particles) using recent experimental results. On the other hand, sensitivity analyses have been performed with the AEROSOLS code which emphasize the particle coagulation parameters: agglomerate shape factors and collision efficiency. Finally, the different computer models have been applied to the study of aerosol behavior during a 900 MWe PWR accident: loss-of-coolant-accident (small break with failure of all safety systems) [fr

Analysis of hot leg natural circulation under station blackout severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Jian; Cao Xuewu

2007-01-01

Under severe accidents, natural circulation flows are important to influence the accident progression and result in a pressurized water reactor (PWR). In a station blackout accident with no recovery of steam generator (SG) auxiliary feedwater (TMLB' severe accident scenario), the hot leg countercurrent natural circulation flow is analyzed by using a severe-accident code, to better understand its potential impacts on the creep-rupture timing among the surge line, the hot leg; and SG tubes. The results show that the natural circulation may delay the failure time of the hot leg. The recirculation ratio and the hot mixing factor are also calculated and discussed. (authors)

Statistical analysis of the early phase of SBO accident for PWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kozmenkov, Yaroslav, E-mail: y.kozmenkov@hzdr.de; Jobst, Matthias, E-mail: m.jobst@hzdr.de; Kliem, Soeren, E-mail: s.kliem@hzdr.de; Schaefer, Frank, E-mail: f.schaefer@hzdr.de; Wilhelm, Polina, E-mail: p.wilhelm@hzdr.de

2017-04-01

Highlights: • Best estimate model of generic German PWR is used in ATHLET-CD simulations. • Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of the early phase of SBO accident is presented. • Prediction intervals for occurrence of main events are evaluated. - Abstract: A statistical approach is used to analyse the early phase of station blackout accident for generic German PWR with the best estimate system code ATHLET-CD as a computation tool. The analysis is mainly focused on the timescale uncertainties of the accident events which can be detected at the plant. The developed input deck allows variations of all input uncertainty parameters relevant to the case. The list of identified and quantified input uncertainties includes 30 parameters related to the simulated physical phenomena/processes. Time uncertainties of main events as well as the major contributors to these uncertainties are defined. The uncertainty in decay heat has the highest contribution to the uncertainties of the analysed events. A linear regression analysis is used for predicting times of future events from detected times of occurred/past events. An accuracy of event predictions is estimated and verified. The presented statistical approach could be helpful for assessing and improving existing or elaborating additional emergency operating procedures aimed to prevent severe damage of reactor core.

Structural evaluation of electrosleeved tubes under severe accident transients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majumdar, S.

1999-01-01

A flow stress model was developed for predicting failure of Electrosleeved PWR steam generator tubing under severe accident transients. The Electrosleeve, which is nanocrystalline pure nickel, loses its strength at temperatures greater than 400 C during severe accidents because of grain growth. A grain growth model and the Hall-Petch relationship were used to calculate the loss of flow stress as a function of time and temperature during the accident. Available tensile test data as well as high temperature failure tests on notched Electrosleeved tube specimens were used to derive the basic parameters of the failure model. The model was used to predict the failure temperatures of Electrosleeved tubes with axial cracks in the parent tube during postulated severe accident transients

Comparison of computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Bunz, H.; Dunbar, I.; Gauvain, J.; Ricchena, R.

1986-01-01

The present study concerns a comparative exercise, performed within the framework of the Commission of the European Communities, of the computer codes (AEROSIM-M, UK; AEROSOLS/B1, France; CORRAL-2, CEC and NAUA Mod5, Germany) used in order to assess the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR. Topics considered in this paper include aerosols, containment buildings, reactor safety, fission product release, reactor cores, meltdown, and monitoring

PWR severe accident mitigation measures, the french point of view

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duco, J.; L'Homme, A.; Queniart, D.

1990-01-01

French studies have early considered the fact that, despite all the precautions taken, the possibility of severe accidents cannot be absolutely excluded; these accidents include core meltdown and a more or less significant loss, at an early or later stage, of the confinement of the radioactive substances in the containment. For a given scenario, one can almost always imagine a more severe scenario by postulating additional failures, but it is obvious that, as the severity of the imagined scenario increases, the probability of its occurrence tends towards zero. However, it does not appear reasonable to attempt to set a probability threshold below which the scenarios should be excluded. First of all, the higher the improbability of the scenarios, the greater the uncertainty in the calculation of their probability, with the result that the calculation is not very meaningful. Secondly, and more importantly, this approach ignores the essential problem of accident situation management. From the outset, French studies have been focused on controlling the development of these situations and mitigating their consequences by means of a series of appropriate actions involving, on the one hand, optimum use of the resources available in the installation during the course of the accident and, on the other hand, the taking of protective measures for the population. To attempt to prevent an initial event to degenerate into a severe accident leading to core meltdown if the proper actions are not taken, Electricite de France has proposed a new operating procedure based on the characterization of every possible cooling state of the core

Enhanced safety features of CHASHMA NPP UNIT-2 to encounter selected severe accidents, various challenges involved to prove the adequacy of severe accidents prevention/mitigation measures and to write management guidelines with one possible solution to these challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iqbal, Z.; Minhaj, A.

2007-01-01

This paper describes enhanced safety features of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 (C-2), a 325 MWe PWR to encounter selected severe accidents and discusses various challenges involved to prove the adequacy of severe accidents encountering measures and to write severe accident management guidelines (SAMGs) in compliance with the recently introduced national regulations based on the new IAEA nuclear safety standards. C-2 is being built by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). Its twin, Unit-1 (C-1) also a 325 MWe PWR, was commissioned in 2000. Nuclear power safety with reference to severe accidents should be treated as a global issue and therefore the developed countries should include the people of developing countries in nuclear power industry's various severe accidents based research and development programs. The implementation of this idea may also deliver few other useful and mutually beneficial byproducts. (author)

Electrical systems design applications on Japanese PWR plants in light of the Fukushima Daiichi Accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nomoto, Tsutomu

2015-01-01

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (1F-NPP) accident (i.e. Station Blackout), several design enhancements have been incorporated or are under considering to Mitsubishi PWR plants' design of not only operational plants' design but also new plants' design. Especially, there are several important enhancements in the area of the electrical system design. In this presentation, design enhancements related to following electrical systems/equipment are introduced; - Offsite Power System; - Emergency Power Source; - Safety-related Battery; - Alternative AC Power Supply Systems. In addition, relevant design requirements/conditions which are or will be considered in Mitsubishi PWR plants are introduced. (authors)

Simulation of small break loss of coolant accident in pressurized water reactor (PWR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abass, N. M. N.

2012-02-01

A major safety concern in pressurized-water-reactor (PWR) design is the loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA),in which a break in the primary coolant circuit leads to depressurization, boiling of the coolant, consequent reduced cooling of the reactor core, and , unless remedial measures are taken, overheating of the fuel rods. This concern has led to the development of several simulators for safety analysis. This study demonstrates how the passive and active safety systems in conventional and advanced PWR behave during the small break loss of Coolant Accident (SBLOCA). The consequences of SBOLOCA have been simulated using IAEA Generic pressurized Water Reactor Simulator (GPWRS) and personal Computer Transient analyzer (PCTRAN) . The results were presented and discussed. The study has confirmed the major safety advantage of passive plants versus conventional PWRs is that the passive safety systems provide long-term core cooling and decay heat removal without the need for operator actions and without reliance on active safety-related system. (Author)

Analysis of reactivity accidents in PWR'S

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camous, F.; Chesnel, A.

1989-12-01

This note describes the French strategy which has consisted, firstly, in examining all the accidents presented in the PWR unit safety reports in order to determine for each parameter the impact on accident consequences of varying the parameter considered, secondly in analyzing the provisions taken into account to restrict variation of this parameter to within an acceptable range and thirdly, in checking that the reliability of these provisions is compatible with the potential consequences of transgression of the authorized limits. Taking into consideration violations of technical operating specifications and/or non-observance of operating procedures, equipment failures, and partial or total unavailability of safety systems, these studies have shown that fuel mechanical strength limits can be reached but that the probability of occurrence of the corresponding events places them in the residual risk field and that it must, in fact, be remembered that there is a wide margin between the design basis accidents and accidents resulting in fuel destruction. However, during the coming year, we still have to analyze scenarios dealing with cumulated events or incidents leading to a reactivity accident. This program will be mainly concerned with the impact of the cases examined relating to dilution incidents under normal operating conditions or accident operating conditions

Safety against releases in severe accidents. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindholm, I.; Berg, Oe.; Nonboel, E.

1997-12-01

The work scope of the RAK-2 project has involved research on quantification of the effects of selected severe accident phenomena for Nordic nuclear power plants, development and testing of a computerised accident management support system and data collection and description of various mobile reactors and of different reactor types existing in the UK. The investigations of severe accident phenomena focused mainly on in-vessel melt progression, covering a numerical assessment of coolability of a degraded BWR core, the possibility and consequences of a BWR reactor to become critical during reflooding and the core melt behavior in the reactor vessel lower plenum. Simulant experiments were carried out to investigate lower head hole ablation induced by debris discharge. In addition to the in-vessel phenomena, a limited study on containment response to high pressure melt ejection in a BWR and a comparative study on fission product source term behaviour in a Swedish PWR were performed. An existing computerised accident management support system (CAMS) was further developed in the area of tracking and predictive simulation, signal validation, state identification and user interface. The first version of a probabilistic safety analysis module was developed and implemented in the system. CAMS was tested in practice with Barsebaeck data in a safety exercise with the Swedish nuclear authority. The descriptions of the key features of British reactor types, AGR, Magnox, FBR and PWR were published as data reports. Separate reports were issued also on accidents in nuclear ships and on description of key features of satellite reactors. The collected data were implemented in a common Nordic database. (au)

Numerical simulation of radioisotope's dependency on containment performance for large dry PWR containment under severe accidents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mehboob, Khurram, E-mail: khurramhrbeu@gmail.com [College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, 145-31 Nantong Street, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001 (China); Xinrong, Cao [College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, 145-31 Nantong Street, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001 (China); Ahmed, Raheel [College of Automation, Harbin Engineering University, 145-31 Nantong Street, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001 (China); Ali, Majid [College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, 145-31 Nantong Street, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001 (China)

2013-09-15

Highlights: • Calculation and comparison of activity of BURN-UP code with ORIGEN2 code. • Development of SASTC computer code. • Radioisotopes dependency on containment ESFs. • Mitigation in atmospheric release with ESFs operation. • Variation in radioisotopes source term with spray flow and pH value. -- Abstract: During the core melt accidents large amount of fission products can be released into the containment building. These fission products escape into the environment to contribute in accident source term. The mitigation in environmental release is demanded for such radiological consequences. Thus, countermeasures to source term, mitigations of release of radioactivity have been studied for 1000 MWe PWR reactor. The procedure of study is divided into five steps: (1) calculation and verification of core inventory, evaluated by BURN-UP code, (2) containment modeling based on radioactivity removal factors, (3) selection of potential accidents initiates the severe accident, (4) calculation of release of radioactivity, (5) study the dependency of release of radioactivity on containment engineering safety features (ESFs) inducing mitigation. Loss of coolant accident (LOCA), small break LOCA and flow blockage accidents (FBA) are selected as initiating accidents. The mitigation effect of ESFs on source term has been studied against ESFs performance. Parametric study of release of radioactivity has been carried out by modeling and simulating the containment parameters in MATLAB, which takes BURN-UP outcomes as input along with the probabilistic data. The dependency of iodine and aerosol source term on boric and caustic acid spray has been determined. The variation in source term mitigation with the variation of containment spray flow rate and pH values have been studied. The variation in containment retention factor (CRF) has also been studied with the ESF performance. A rapid decrease in source term is observed with the increase in pH value.

Assessment of fission product release from the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Evrard, J.M.; Generino, G.

1984-07-01

Fission product releases from the RCB associated with hypothetical core-melt accidents ABβ, S 2 CDβ and TLBβ in a PWR-900 MWe have been performed using French computer codes (in particular, the JERICHO Code for containment response analysis and AEROSOLS/B1 for aerosol behavior in the containment) related to thermalhydraulics and fission product behavior in the primary system and in the reactor containment building

A framework for assessing severe accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, W.E.; Apostolakis, G.; Dhir, V.K.; Okrent, D.; Jae, M.; Lim, H.; Milici, T.; Park, H.; Swider, J.; Xing, L.; Yu, D.

1991-01-01

Accident management can be defined as the innovative use of existing and or alternative resources, systems and actions to prevent or mitigate a severe accident. Together with risk management (changes in plant operation and/or addition of equipment) and emergency planning (off-site actions), accident management provides an extension of the defense-in-depth safety philosophy for severe accidents. A significant number of probabilistic safety assessments (PSA) have been completed which yield the principal plant vulnerabilities. For each sequence/threat and each combination of strategy there may be several options available to the operator. Each strategy/option involves phenomenological and operational considerations regarding uncertainty. These considerations include uncertainty in key phenomena, uncertainty in operator behavior, uncertainty in system availability and behavior, and uncertainty in available information (i.e., instrumentation). The objective of this project is to develop a methodology for assessing severe accident management strategies given the key uncertainties mentioned above. Based on Decision Trees and Influence Diagrams, the methodology is currently being applied to two case studies: cavity flooding in a PWR to prevent vessel penetration or failure, and drywell flooding in a BWR to prevent containment failure

Recent Perspective on the Severe Accident Management Programme for Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Manwoong; Lee, Sukho; Lee, Jungjae; Chung, Kuyoung

2017-01-01

Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMGs), has been developed to help operators to prevent or mitigate the impacts of accidents at nuclear power plants. Severe accident management was first introduced in the 1990s with the creation of SAMGs following recognition that post-Three Mile Island Emergency Operating Procedures (EOPs) did not adequately address severe core damage conditions. Establishing and maintaining multiple layers of defence against any internal/external hazards is an important measure to reduce radiological risks to the public and environment. This study is intended to suggest future regulatory perspectives to strengthen the prevention and mitigation strategies for severe accidents by review of the current status of revision of IAEA Safety Standard on Severe Accident Management Programmes for Nuclear Power Plants and the combined PWR SAMG. This new IAEA Safety Guide will address guidelines for preparation, development, implementation and review of severe accident management programs during all operating conditions for both reactor and spent fuel pool. This Guide is used by operating organizations of nuclear power plants and their support organizations. It may also be used by national regulatory bodies and technical support organizations as a reference for developing their relevant safety requirements and for conducting reviews and safety assessments for SAMP including SAMG. The Pressurized Water Reactor Owner’s Group (PWROG) is upgrading the original generic Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMGs) into single Severe Accident Guidelines (SAGs) for the PWR SAMG aims to consolidate the advantages of each of the separate vendor severe accident (SA) mitigation methods. This new PWROG SAGs changes the SAMG process to be made that can improve SA response. Changes have been made that guidance is available for control room operators when the TSC is not activated thus allowing for timely accident response. Other changes were made to the guidance

Safety against releases in severe accidents. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindholm, I.; Berg, Oe.; Nonboel, E. [eds.

1997-12-01

The work scope of the RAK-2 project has involved research on quantification of the effects of selected severe accident phenomena for Nordic nuclear power plants, development and testing of a computerised accident management support system and data collection and description of various mobile reactors and of different reactor types existing in the UK. The investigations of severe accident phenomena focused mainly on in-vessel melt progression, covering a numerical assessment of coolability of a degraded BWR core, the possibility and consequences of a BWR reactor to become critical during reflooding and the core melt behavior in the reactor vessel lower plenum. Simulant experiments were carried out to investigate lower head hole ablation induced by debris discharge. In addition to the in-vessel phenomena, a limited study on containment response to high pressure melt ejection in a BWR and a comparative study on fission product source term behaviour in a Swedish PWR were performed. An existing computerised accident management support system (CAMS) was further developed in the area of tracking and predictive simulation, signal validation, state identification and user interface. The first version of a probabilistic safety analysis module was developed and implemented in the system. CAMS was tested in practice with Barsebaeck data in a safety exercise with the Swedish nuclear authority. The descriptions of the key features of British reactor types, AGR, Magnox, FBR and PWR were published as data reports. Separate reports were issued also on accidents in nuclear ships and on description of key features of satellite reactors. The collected data were implemented in a common Nordic database. (au) 39 refs.

Comparison of european computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in PWR containment buildings during severe core damage accidents. (Modelling of steam condensation on the particles)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bunz, H.; Dunbar, L.H.; Fermandjian, J.; Lhiaubet, G.

1987-11-01

An aerosol code comparison exercise was performed within the framework of the Commission of European Communities (Division of Safety of Nuclear Installations). This exercise, focused on the process of steam condensation onto the aerosols occurring in PWR containment buildings during severe core damage accidents, has allowed to understand the discrepancies between the results obtained. These discrepancies are due, in particular, to whether the curvature effect is modelled or not in the codes

Brief account of the effect of overcooling accidents on the integrity of PWR pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheverton, R.D.

1982-01-01

The occurrence in recent years of several (PWR) accident initiating events that could lead to severe thermal shock to the reactor pressure vessel, and the growing awareness that copper and nickel in the vessel material significantly enhance radiation damage in the vessel, have resulted in a reevaluation of pressure-vessel integrity during postulated overcooling accidents. Analyses indicate that the accidents of concern are those involving both thermal shock and pressure loadings, and that an accident similar to that at Rancho Seco in 1978 could, under some circumstances and at a time late in the normal life of the vessel, result in propagation of preexistent flaws in the vessel wall to the extent that they might completely penetrate the wall. More severe accidents have been postulated that would result in even shorter permissible lifetimes. However, the state-of-the-art fracture-mechanics analysis may contain excessive conservatism, and this possibility is being investigated. Furthermore, there are several remedial measures, such as fuel shuffling, to reduce the damage rate, and vessel annealing, to restore favorable material properties, that may be practical and used if necessary. 5 figures

PWR plant operator training used full scope simulator incorporated MAAP model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Y.; Tabuchi, T.; Yamashita, T.; Komatsu, Y.; Tsubouchi, K.; Banka, T.; Mochizuki, T.; Nishimura, K.; Iizuka, H.

2015-01-01

NTC makes an effort with the understanding of plant behavior of core damage accident as part of our advanced training. For the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, we introduced the MAAP model into PWR operator training full scope simulator and also made the Severe Accident Visual Display unit. From 2014, we will introduce new training program for a core damage accident with PWR operator training full scope simulator incorporated the MAAP model and the Severe Accident Visual Display unit. (author)

Application of ASTEC V2.0 to severe accident analyses for German KONVOI type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowack, H.; Erdmann, W.; Reinke, N.

2011-01-01

The integral code ASTEC is jointly developed by IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire, France) and GRS (Germany). Its main objective is to simulate severe accident scenarios in PWRs from the initiating event up to the release of radioactive material into the environment. This paper describes the ASTEC modeling approach and the nodalisation of a KONVOI type PWR as an application example. Results from an integral severe accident study are presented and shortcomings as well as advantages are outlined. As a conclusion, the applicability of ASTEC V2.0 for deterministic severe accident analyses used for PSA level 2 and Severe Accident Management studies will be assessed. (author)

Comparison of european computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in PWR containment buildings during severe core damage accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Beonio-Brocchieri, F.

1986-09-01

The present study concerns a comparative exercise, performed within the framework of the Commission of the European Communities, of the computer codes used in reactor safety in order to assess their capability of realistically describing the aerosol behavior in PWR reactor containment buildings during severe accidents. The codes included in the present study are the following: AEROSIM-M, AEROSOLS/Bl, CORRAL-2, NAUA Mod5. In AEROSIM-M, AEROSOLS/Bl and NAUA Mod5, the integro-differential equation for the evolution of the particle mass distribution is approximated by a set of coupled first order differential equations. To this end, the particle distribution function is replaced by a number of discrete monodisperse fractions. The CORRAL-2 has an essentially empirical basis (processes not explicitely modelled, but their net effects accounted for). The physical processes taken into account in the codes are shown finally

Development of severe accident analysis code - A study on the molten core-concrete interaction under severe accidents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Chang Hyun; Lee, Byung Chul; Huh, Chang Wook; Kim, Doh Young; Kim, Ju Yeul [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1996-07-01

The purpose of this study is to understand the phenomena of the molten core/concrete interaction during the hypothetical severe accident, and to develop the model for heat transfer and physical phenomena in MCCIs. The contents of this study are analysis of mechanism in MCCIs and assessment of heat transfer models, evaluation of model in CORCON code and verification in CORCON using SWISS and SURC Experiments, and 1000 MWe PWR reactor cavity coolability, and establishment a model for prediction of the crust formation and temperature of melt-pool. The properties and flow condition of melt pool covering with the conditions of severe accident are used to evaluate the heat transfer coefficients in each reviewed model. Also, the scope and limitation of each model for application is assessed. A phenomenological analysis is performed with MELCOR 1.8.2 and MELCOR 1.8.3 And its results is compared with corresponding experimental reports of SWISS and SURC experiments. And the calculation is performed to assess the 1000 MWe PWR reactor cavity coolability. To improve the heat transfer model between melt-pool and overlying coolant and analyze the phase change of melt-pool, 2 dimensional governing equations are established using the enthalpy method and computational program is accomplished in this study. The benchmarking calculation is performed and its results are compared to the experiment which has not considered effects of the coolant boiling and the gas injection. Ultimately, the model shall be developed for considering the gas injection effect and coolant boiling effect. 66 refs., 10 tabs., 29 refs. (author)

Effects of B4C control rod degradation under severe accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seo, Si-Won; Park, Sang-Gil; Han, Sang-Ku [Atomic Creative Technology Co., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Boron carbide (B4C) is widely used as absorber material in western boiling water reactor (BWR), some PWR, EPR and Russian RBMK and VVERs. B4C oxidation is one of the important phenomena of in-vessel. In the present paper, the main results and knowledge gained regarding the B4C control rod degradation from above mentioned experiments are reviewed and arranged to inform its significance on the severe accident consequences. In this paper, the role of B4C control rod oxidation and the subsequent degradation on the severe accident consequences is reviewed with available literature and report of previous experimental program regarding the B4C oxidation. From this review, it seems that the contribution of this B4C oxidation on the accident progression to the further severe accident situation is not negligible. For the future work, the extensive experimental data interpretation will be performed to assess quantitatively the effect of B4C oxidation and degradation on the various postulated severe accident conditions.

CANDU severe accident analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negut, Gheorghe; Catana, Alexandru; Prisecaru, Ilie; Dupleac, Daniel

2007-01-01

Romania is a EU member since January first 2007. This country faces now new challenges which imply also the nuclear power reactors now in operation. Romania operates since 1996 a CANDU nuclear power reactor and soon will start up a second unit. In EU PWR reactors are mostly operated, so that the Romania's reactors have to meet EU standards. Safety analysis guidelines require to model severe accidents for reactors of this type. Starting from previous studies a thermal-hydraulic model for a degraded CANDU core was developed. The initiating event is assumed to be a LOCA with simultaneous loss of moderator and coolant and the failure of emergency core cooling system (ECCS). This type of accident is likely to modify the reactor geometry and will lead to a severe accident development. When the coolant temperatures inside a pressure tube reaches 1000 deg. C, a contact between pressure tube and calandria tube occurs and the decay heat is transferred to the moderator. Due to the lack of cooling, the moderator eventually begins to boil and is expelled, through the calandria vessel relief ducts, into the containment. Therefore the calandria tubes (fuel channels) uncover, then disintegrate and fall down to the calandria vessel bottom. All the quantity of calandria moderator is vaporized and expelled, the debris will heat up and eventually boil. The heat accumulated in the molten debris will be transferred through the calandria vessel wall to the shield water tank surrounding the calandria vessel. The thermal hydraulics phenomena described above are modeled, analyzed and compared with the existing data. (authors)

Basic study on PWR plant behavior under the condition of severe accident (1)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozaki, Yoshihiko; Ida, Shohma; Nakamura, Shinya

2015-01-01

In this paper, we report on the results using the PWR plant simulator about the plant behavior under the condition of the severe accident that LOCA occurs but ECCS fails the water irrigation into the reactor core. As for the results about the relationship between the LOCA area and the time from LOCA occurs until fuel temperature rise start, the time became shorter as the area was the larger. But, in LOCA area of 1000 cm 2 or more large, the time was almost constant regardless of the area. For small LOCA of 25 cm 2 area, from the results of the comparative experiments for RCS natural circulation cooling effect in the case of SG open or not, in SG open condition compared with SG not open, the effect was observed more, but the reactor water level was greatly reduced and the time until the fuel temperature rise start was shortened, so the fuel temperature at the time of water irrigation into the reactor core has become higher. On the other hand, for the large LOCA of 1000 cm 2 , the effect was not observed regardless of SG open or not. In addition, the reactor core damage was not spared in the irrigation into the reactor core after 30 minutes from LOCA, however, the hydrogen concentration in the containment building is less than the lower limit of hydrogen detonation, and also the pressure in the containment building is less than the designed value. That is, although suffered the core damage, the integrity of the containment building has been shown to be secured. (author)

PWR auxiliary systems, safety and emergency systems, accident analysis, operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, P.J.

1976-01-01

The author presents a description of PWR auxiliary systems like volume control, boric acid control, coolant purification, -degassing, -storage and -treatment system and waste processing systems. Residual heat removal systems, emergency systems and containment designs are discussed. As an accident analysis the author gives a survey over malfunctions and disturbances in the field of reactor operations. (TK) [de

Analysis of the loss of pool cooling accident in a PWR spent fuel pool with MAAP5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Xiaoli; Li, Wei; Zhang, Yapei; Tian, Wenxi; Su, Guanghui; Qiu, Suizheng

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A PWR spent fuel pool was modeled by using MAAP5. • Loss of pool cooling severe accident scenarios were studied. • Loss of pool cooling accidents with two mitigation measures were analyzed. - Abstract: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident shows that it is necessary to study potential severe accidents and corresponding mitigation measures for the spent fuel pool (SFP) of a nuclear power plant (NPP). This paper presents the analysis of loss of pool cooling accident scenarios and the discussion of mitigation measures for the SFP at a pressurized water reactor (PWR) NPP with the MAAP5 code. Analysis of uncompensated loss of water due to the loss of pool cooling with different initial pool water levels of 12.2 m (designated as a reference case) and 10.7 m have been performed based on a MAAP5 input model. Scenarios of the accident such as overheating of uncovered fuel assemblies, oxidation of claddings and hydrogen generation, loss of intactness of fuel rod claddings, and release of radioactive fission products were predicted with the assumption that mitigation measures were unavailable. The results covered a broad spectrum of severe accident evaluations in the SFP. Furthermore, as important mitigation measures, the effects of recovering the SFP cooling system and makeup water in SFP on the accident progressions have also been investigated respectively based on the events of pool water boiling and spent fuels uncovery. Based upon the reference case, three cases with the recovery of SFP cooling system and three other cases with makeup water in SFP have been studied. The results showed that, severe accident might happen if SFP cooling system was not restored timely before the spent fuels started to become uncovered; spent fuels could be completely submerged and severe accident might be avoided if SFP makeup water system provided water with a mass flow rate larger than the average evaporation rate defined as the division of pool water mass above the

Study of the distribution of hydrogen in a PWR containment with CFD codes; Estudio de la distribucion de hidrogeno en una contencion PWR con codigos CFD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jimenez, G.; Matias, R.; Fernandez, K.; Justo, D.; Bocanegra, R.; Mena, L.; Queral, C.

2015-07-01

During a severe accident in a PWR, the hydrogen generated may be distributed in the containment atmosphere and reach the combustion conditions that can cause the containment failure. In this research project, a preliminary study has been done about the capacities of ANSYS Fluent 15.0 and GOTHIC 8.0 to tri dimensional distribution of the hydrogen in a PWR containment during a severe accident. (Author)

Method of assessing severe accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, W.E.; Apostolakis, G.; Dhir, V.K.; Okrent, D.; Jae, M.; Lim, H.; Milici, T.; Park, H.; Swider, J.; Xing, L.; Yu, D.

1991-01-01

Accident management can be defined as the innovative use of existing and or alternative resources, systems, and actions to prevent or mitigate a severe accident. A significant number of probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs) have been completed that yield the principal plant vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities can be categorized as (1) dominant sequences with respect to core-melt frequency. (2) dominant sequences with respect to various risk measures. (3) dominant threats that challenge safety functions. (4) dominant threats with respect to failure of safety systems. For each sequence/threat and each combination of strategy, there may be several options available to the operator. Each strategy/option involves phenomenological and operational considerations regarding uncertainty. These considerations include uncertainties in key phenomena, operator behavior, system availability and behavior, and available information. This paper presents a methodology for assessing severe accident management strategies given the key uncertainties delineated at two workshops held at the University of California, Los Angeles. Based on decision trees and influence diagrams, the methodology is currently being applied to two case studies: cavity flooding in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to prevent vessel penetration or failure, and drywell flooding in a boiling water reactor to prevent vessel and/or containment failure

Prevention and mitigation of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weisshaeupl, H.

1996-01-01

For the European Pressurized water Reactor (EPR), jointly developed by French and German industry, great emphasis is laid to gain further improvement in prevention of severe accidents based on the accumulative experience and proven technology of the French and German PWR reactors. In this evolutionary development, a balanced and comprehensive approach in respect to implement new passive features has been chosen. Improvements in each step of the defense in depth concept lead to a further decrease in the probability of occurrence of a severe accident with partial or even gross melting of the core. The different phenomenons that occur during such an hypothetical accident must be taken into account during the conception of specific measurements necessary to mitigate accident consequences. To cope with the consequences of a severe accident with core melt down means to deal with different phenomena which may threaten the integrity of the containment or may lead to an enhanced fission product release into the environment: high pressure reactor pressure vessel failure; energetic molten fuel coolant interaction; direct containment heating, molten core concrete interaction; hydrogen combustion; long term pressure and temperature increase in the containment. The EPR approach follows the recommendations from the DFD (Deutsch-Franzosischer Direktionsausschuss), jointly prepared by the French and German safety authorities. The EPR concept consist to prevent or eliminate as far as possible scenarios which are connected with high loads (high pressure failure of the reactor pressure vessel, or global hydrogen detonation etc..) by dedicated design provisions, and to deal with the consequences of severe accident scenarios which are not ruled out by specific safety measures. The measures comprise: the primary system depressurization; the control of hydrogen; the stabilisation and cooling of the melted core; the containment heat removal. They are completed by specific characteristics

Development of Methodology for Spent Fuel Pool Severe Accident Analysis Using MELCOR Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Won-Tae; Shin, Jae-Uk [RETech. Co. LTD., Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Ahn, Kwang-Il [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

The general reason why SFP severe accident analysis has to be considered is that there is a potential great risk due to the huge number of fuel assemblies and no containment in a SFP building. In most cases, the SFP building is vulnerable to external damage or attack. In contrary, low decay heat of fuel assemblies may make the accident processes slow compared to the accident in reactor core because of a great deal of water. In short, its severity of consequence cannot exclude the consideration of SFP risk management. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has performed the consequence studies of postulated spent fuel pool accident. The Fukushima-Daiichi accident has accelerated the needs for the consequence studies of postulated spent fuel pool accidents, causing the nuclear industry and regulatory bodies to reexamine several assumptions concerning beyond-design basis events such as a station blackout. The tsunami brought about the loss of coolant accident, leading to the explosion of hydrogen in the SFP building. Analyses of SFP accident processes in the case of a loss of coolant with no heat removal have studied. Few studies however have focused on a long term process of SFP severe accident under no mitigation action such as a water makeup to SFP. USNRC and OECD have co-worked to examine the behavior of PWR fuel assemblies under severe accident conditions in a spent fuel rack. In support of the investigation, several new features of MELCOR model have been added to simulate both BWR fuel assembly and PWR 17 x 17 assembly in a spent fuel pool rack undergoing severe accident conditions. The purpose of the study in this paper is to develop a methodology of the long-term analysis for the plant level SFP severe accident by using the new-featured MELCOR program in the OPR-1000 Nuclear Power Plant. The study is to investigate the ability of MELCOR in predicting an entire process of SFP severe accident phenomena including the molten corium and concrete reaction. The

Simulation of fission products behavior in severe accidents for advanced passive PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tong, L.L.; Huang, G.F.; Cao, X.W.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A fission product analysis model based on thermal hydraulic module is developed. • An assessment method for fission product release and transport is constructed. • Fission products behavior during three modes of containment response is investigated. • Source term results for the three modes of containment response are obtained. - Abstract: Fission product behavior for common Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) has been studied for many years, and some analytical tools have developed. However, studies specifically on the behavior of fission products related to advanced passive PWR is scarce. In the current study, design characteristics of advanced passive PWR influencing fission product behavior are investigated. An integrated fission products analysis model based on a thermal hydraulic module is developed, and the assessment method for fission products release and transport for advanced passive PWR is constructed. Three modes of containment response are simulated, including intact containment, containment bypass and containment overpressure failure. Fission products release from the core and corium, fission products transport and deposition in the Reactor Coolant System (RCS), fission products transport and deposition in the containment considering fission products retention in the in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST) and in the secondary side of steam generators (SGs) are simulated. Source term results of intact containment, containment bypass and containment overpressure failure are obtained, which can be utilized to evaluate the radiological consequences

MELCOR Severe Accident Analysis on the SMART Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Tae Woon; Jin, Young Ho; Kim, Young In; Kim, Keung Koo; Wang, Ziao; Revankar, Shripad

2014-01-01

A severe accident is analyzed for Korea SMR reactor, SMART. Core melt down sequences are analyzed for SMART reactor core using MELCOR version 1.8.5. MELCOR is developed by Sandia National Laboratory for US NRC for the simulation of severe accidents in nuclear power plants. Two cases are simulated here and compared between them; one is the case for core having 3 concentric rings and the other is the case for core having 5 concentric rings. One inch break LOCA scenario is simulated and compared between these two core models. Time sequences for the thermal hydraulic behaviors of RPV and thermal heatup behaviors of reactor core are explained in graphically. Thermal hydraulic behavior such as the change of pressure, level, mass, and temperature of RPV is explained. Thermal heatup behavior of reactor core such as oxidation of cladding, hydrogen generation, core slumping down to lower plenum, and finally creep rupture of PRV lower head is explained. Engineered safety features such as safety injection systems (SIS), and Passive residual heat removal systems (PHRS), etc. are assumed to be not working. One inch break of severe accident is simulated on Korean SMR (SMART) Integral PWR with MELCOR code version 1.8.5. Core melt progression and lower head failure time is very slow compared to other commercial reactors. Simulation on 3 and 5 radial rings core models gives very similar pattern in core cell failure timings. Other various accident scenarios (for example, SBO in Fukushima) will be tried further. Containment behaviors and source term behaviors in severe accident conditions will be analyzed in future

Essential severe accident mitigation measures for operating and future PWR's

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bittermann, Dietmar; Eckardt, Bernd A.; Lechleuthner, Michael [Framatome ANP GmbH, Erlangen (Germany)

2003-04-01

Severe Accident mitigation measures are a constituent of the safety concept in Europe not only for operating but also for future light water reactors. While operating reactors mainly have been backfitted with such measure, for future reactors Severe Accident mitigation measures already have to be considered in the design phase. Severe Accident measures are considered as the 4{sup th} level of defense for future reactors. This difference has consequences also on the kind of measures proposed to be introduced. While in operating plants Severe Accident mitigation measures are considered for further risk reduction, in future reactors an explicit higher level of safety is required resulting in additional design measures. This higher safety level is expressed in the requirement that there must be no need for evacuation of surrounding populations except in the immediate vicinity of the plant and for long-term restrictions with regard to the consumption of locally grown food. Because of the potential hazard posed by radioactive releases to the environment in the event of an Severe Accident situation depends largely on the airborne material in the containment atmosphere and on the containment integrity, new system features to prevent loss of containment integrity have been introduced in the design of the NPP's. For these tasks it has been necessary to develop and qualify new system technologies and implement them finally into NPP's, e.g. like systems for containment atmosphere H{sub 2}-control, filtered venting, core retention devices and atmosphere sampling. The following systems are introduced for operating as well as for future plants: {center_dot} The Hydrogen Control System is based on the Passive Autocatalytic Recombiner (PAR) technology. There is no need for any operator actions because of the self-starting feature of the catalyst if hydrogen is released. {center_dot} In situ Post Accident Sampling System (In situ-PASS) are introduced for the purpose of

Hydrogen production in a PWR during LOCA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cassette, P.

1983-12-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide information on hydrogen generation during LOCA in French 900 MW PWR power plants. The design basis accident is taken into account as well as more severe accidents assuming failure of emergency systems

Analysis of ASTEC code adaptability to severe accident simulation for CANDU type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Constantin, Marin; Rizoiu, Andrei

2008-01-01

In order to prepare the adaptation of the ASTEC code to CANDU NPP severe accident analysis two kinds of activities were performed: - analyses of the ASTEC modules from the point of view of models and options, followed by CANDU exploratory calculation for the appropriate modules/models; - preparing the specifications for ASTEC adaptation for CANDU NPP. The paper is structured in three parts: - a comparison of PWR and CANDU concepts (from the point of view of severe accident phenomena); - exploratory calculations with some ASTEC modules- SOPHAEROS, CPA, IODE, CESAR, DIVA - for CANDU type reactors specific problems; - development needs analysis - algorithms, methods, modules. (authors)

Monitoring and operation system for severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukui, Toshiki; Niida, Shinji; Kato, Yumeto

2017-01-01

Monitoring and operation system for Severe Accidents (SA-MOS) is a compact Instrumentation and Control (I and C) system developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and certificated by the Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) as a design application for Japanese existing PWR nuclear power plants. The system is tailored to provide monitoring and operation for Severe Accident (SA) conditions, and consists of digitalized I and C System, Human Systems Interface (HSI) system and Power Supply (PS) system as further improvement of reliability and safety. This design plans to be applied to the next Japanese PWR plants. In accordance with the new regulatory standards that NRA has established corresponding to the Fukushima accident, a long-term Station Black Out (SBO) scenario and 24-hours power supply by the storage battery in case of SA has been required. In order to address 24-hours power supply requirement in SA condition, the storage battery volume shall be increased. However, it may be difficult to introduce additional batteries to the existing plant site because of room space constraints, etc. Therefore, power distributions for the facilities which are only used for Design Basis Accident (DBA), are shut down in order to secure 24-hours operations of facilities for SA conditions including SA-MOS. That enables efficient battery resource operations as well as optimizes room space factors shared by battery cabinets. Another benefit is to introduce dedicate HSI system for SA condition and operators shift their operations using that dedicated HSI system to cope with SA events. That can reduce operator workload which forces operators to verify or choose which controllers and indicators are available in SA conditions. Furthermore, application of SA-MOS, secures the independence of the layers (DBA⇔SA) as well as secures the plant data transfer for SA conditions outside of plant. Those plant data assets can be shared by plant operation supporting personnel and

Safety demonstration analyses on criticality for severe accident during overland transport of fresh nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Satoshi; Okuno, Hiroshi; Yamada, Kenji; Watanabe, Kouji; Nomura, Yasushi; Miyoshi, Yoshinori

2005-01-01

Criticality safety analysis was performed for transport packages of uranium dioxide powder or of fresh PWR fuel involved in a severe accident during overland transportation, and as a result, sub-criticality was confirmed against impact accident conditions such as loaded by a drop from high position to a concrete or asphalt surface, and fire accident conditions such as caused by collisions with an oil tank trailer carrying lots of inflammable material in open air, or with a commonly used two-ton-truck inside an unventilated tunnel. (author)

On-line measurement of gaseous iodine species during a PWR severe accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haykal, I.; Doizi, D. [CEA, DEN, Departement de Physico-chimie, 91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, (France); Perrin, A. [CNRS-University of Paris Est and Paris 7, Laboratoire Inter-Universitaire des Systemes Atmospheriques, 94010 Creteil, (France); Vincent, B. [University of Burgundy, Laboratoire de physique, CNRS UMR 5027, 9, Avenue Alain Savary, BP 47870, F-21078 Dijon Cedex, (France); Manceron, L. [Synchrotron SOLEIL, L' Orme des Merisiers, St-Aubin BP48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, (France); Mejean, G. [University of Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, Laboratoire de Spectrometrie Physique-CNRS UMR 5588, 38402 Saint Martin d' Heres, (France); Ducros, G. [CEA Cadarache, CEA, DEN, Departement d' Etudes des Combustibles, 13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance cedex, (France)

2015-07-01

A long-range remote sensing of severe accidents in nuclear power plants can be obtained by monitoring the online emission of volatile fission products such as xenon, krypton, caesium and iodine. The nuclear accident in Fukushima was ranked at level 7 of the International Nuclear Event Scale by the NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency) according to the importance of the radionuclide release and the off-site impact. Among volatile fission products, iodine species are of high concern, since they can be released under aerosols as well as gaseous forms. Four years after the Fukushima accident, the aerosol/gaseous partition is still not clear. Since the iodine gaseous forms are less efficiently trapped by the Filtered Containment Venting Systems than aerosol forms, it is of crucial importance to monitor them on-line during a nuclear accident, in order to improve the source term assessment in such a situation. Therefore, we propose to detect and quantify these iodine gaseous forms by the use of highly sensitive optical methods. (authors)

Methodology of a PWR containment analysis during a thermal-hydraulic accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Dayane F.; Sabundjian, Gaiane; Lima, Ana Cecilia S., E-mail: dayane.silva@usp.br, E-mail: gdjian@ipen.br, E-mail: aclima@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2015-07-01

The aim of this work is to present the methodology of calculation to Angra 2 reactor containment during accidents of the type Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA). This study will be possible to ensure the safety of the population of the surroundings upon the occurrence of accidents. One of the programs used to analyze containment of a nuclear plant is the CONTAIN. This computer code is an analysis tool used for predicting the physical conditions and distributions of radionuclides inside a containment building following the release of material from the primary system in a light-water reactor during an accident. The containment of the type PWR plant is a concrete building covered internally by metallic material and has limits of design pressure. The methodology of containment analysis must estimate the limits of pressure during a LOCA. The boundary conditions for the simulation are obtained from RELAP5 code. (author)

Methodology of a PWR containment analysis during a thermal-hydraulic accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Dayane F.; Sabundjian, Gaiane; Lima, Ana Cecilia S.

2015-01-01

The aim of this work is to present the methodology of calculation to Angra 2 reactor containment during accidents of the type Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA). This study will be possible to ensure the safety of the population of the surroundings upon the occurrence of accidents. One of the programs used to analyze containment of a nuclear plant is the CONTAIN. This computer code is an analysis tool used for predicting the physical conditions and distributions of radionuclides inside a containment building following the release of material from the primary system in a light-water reactor during an accident. The containment of the type PWR plant is a concrete building covered internally by metallic material and has limits of design pressure. The methodology of containment analysis must estimate the limits of pressure during a LOCA. The boundary conditions for the simulation are obtained from RELAP5 code. (author)

Application of MELCOR Code to a French PWR 900 MWe Severe Accident Sequence and Evaluation of Models Performance Focusing on In-Vessel Thermal Hydraulic Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Rosa, Felice

2006-01-01

In the ambit of the Severe Accident Network of Excellence Project (SARNET), funded by the European Union, 6. FISA (Fission Safety) Programme, one of the main tasks is the development and validation of the European Accident Source Term Evaluation Code (ASTEC Code). One of the reference codes used to compare ASTEC results, coming from experimental and Reactor Plant applications, is MELCOR. ENEA is a SARNET member and also an ASTEC and MELCOR user. During the first 18 months of this project, we performed a series of MELCOR and ASTEC calculations referring to a French PWR 900 MWe and to the accident sequence of 'Loss of Steam Generator (SG) Feedwater' (known as H2 sequence in the French classification). H2 is an accident sequence substantially equivalent to a Station Blackout scenario, like a TMLB accident, with the only difference that in H2 sequence the scram is forced to occur with a delay of 28 seconds. The main events during the accident sequence are a loss of normal and auxiliary SG feedwater (0 s), followed by a scram when the water level in SG is equal or less than 0.7 m (after 28 seconds). There is also a main coolant pumps trip when ΔTsat < 10 deg. C, a total opening of the three relief valves when Tric (core maximal outlet temperature) is above 603 K (330 deg. C) and accumulators isolation when primary pressure goes below 1.5 MPa (15 bar). Among many other points, it is worth noting that this was the first time that a MELCOR 1.8.5 input deck was available for a French PWR 900. The main ENEA effort in this period was devoted to prepare the MELCOR input deck using the code version v.1.8.5 (build QZ Oct 2000 with the latest patch 185003 Oct 2001). The input deck, completely new, was prepared taking into account structure, data and same conditions as those found inside ASTEC input decks. The main goal of the work presented in this paper is to put in evidence where and when MELCOR provides good enough results and why, in some cases mainly referring to its

Quantification of severe accident source terms of a Westinghouse 3-loop plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee Min; Ko, Y.-C.

2008-01-01

Integrated severe accident analysis codes are used to quantify the source terms of the representative sequences identified in PSA study. The characteristics of these source terms depend on the detail design of the plant and the accident scenario. A historical perspective of radioactive source term is provided. The grouping of radionuclides in different source terms or source term quantification tools based on TID-14844, NUREG-1465, and WASH-1400 is compared. The radionuclides release phenomena and models adopted in the integrated severe accident analysis codes of STCP and MAAP4 are described. In the present study, the severe accident source terms for risk quantification of Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant of Taiwan Power Company are quantified using MAAP 4.0.4 code. A methodology is developed to quantify the source terms of each source term category (STC) identified in the Level II PSA analysis of the plant. The characteristics of source terms obtained are compared with other source terms. The plant analyzed employs a Westinghouse designed 3-loop pressurized water reactor (PWR) with large dry containment

Analysis of reactivity insertion accidents in PWR reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camargo, C.T.M.

1978-06-01

A calculation model to analyze reactivity insertion accidents in a PWR reactor was developed. To analyze the nuclear power transient, the AIREK-III code was used, which simulates the conventional point-kinetic equations with six groups of delayed neutron precursors. Some modifications were made to generalize and to adapt the program to solve the proposed problems. A transient thermal analysis model was developed which simulates the heat transfer process in a cross section of a UO 2 fuel rod with Zircalloy clad, a gap fullfilled with Helium gas and the correspondent coolant channel, using as input the nulcear power transient calculated by AIREK-III. The behavior of ANGRA-i reactor was analized during two types of accidents: - uncontrolled rod withdrawal from subcritical condition; - uncontrolled rod withdrawal at power. The results and conclusions obtained will be used in the license process of the Unit 1 of the Central Nuclear Almirante Alvaro Alberto. (Author) [pt

TMI-2 - A Case Study for PWR Instrumentation Performance during a Severe Accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joy L. Rempe; Darrell L. Knudson

2014-05-01

The accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor provided a unique opportunity to evaluate sensors exposed to severe accident conditions. Conditions associated with the release of coolant and the hydrogen burn that occurred during this accident exposed instrumentation to harsh conditions, including direct radiation, radioactive contamination, and high humidity with elevated temperatures and pressures. As part of a program initiated in 2012 by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), a review was completed to gain insights from prior TMI-2 sensor survivability and data qualification efforts. This new effort focussed upon a set of sensors that provided critical data to TMI-2 operators for assessing the condition of the plant and the effects of mitigating actions taken by these operators. In addition, the effort considered sensors providing data required for subsequent accident simulations. Over 100 references related to instrumentation performance and post-accident evaluations of TMI-2 sensors and measurements were reviewed. Insights gained from this review are summarized within this report. For each sensor, a description is provided with the measured data and conclusions related to the sensor’s survivability, and the basis for conclusions about its survivability. As noted within this document, several techniques were invoked in the TMI-2 post-accident evaluation program to assess sensor status, including comparisons with data from other sensors, analytical calculations, laboratory testing, and comparisons with sensors subjected to similar conditions in large-scale integral tests and with sensors that were similar in design but more easily removed from the TMI-2 plant for evaluations. Conclusions from this review provide important insights related to sensor survivability and enhancement options for improving sensor performance. In addition, this document provides recommendations related to the sensor survivability and data evaluation

TMI-2 - A Case Study for PWR Instrumentation Performance during a Severe Accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joy L. Rempe; Darrell L. Knudson

2013-03-01

The accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor provided a unique opportunity to evaluate sensors exposed to severe accident conditions. Conditions associated with the release of coolant and the hydrogen burn that occurred during this accident exposed instrumentation to harsh conditions, including direct radiation, radioactive contamination, and high humidity with elevated temperatures and pressures. As part of a program initiated in 2012 by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), a review was completed to gain insights from prior TMI-2 sensor survivability and data qualification efforts. This new effort focussed upon a set of sensors that provided critical data to TMI-2 operators for assessing the condition of the plant and the effects of mitigating actions taken by these operators. In addition, the effort considered sensors providing data required for subsequent accident simulations. Over 100 references related to instrumentation performance and post-accident evaluations of TMI-2 sensors and measurements were reviewed. Insights gained from this review are summarized within this report. For each sensor, a description is provided with the measured data and conclusions related to the sensor’s survivability, and the basis for conclusions about its survivability. As noted within this document, several techniques were invoked in the TMI-2 post-accident evaluation program to assess sensor status, including comparisons with data from other sensors, analytical calculations, laboratory testing, and comparisons with sensors subjected to similar conditions in large-scale integral tests and with sensors that were similar in design but more easily removed from the TMI-2 plant for evaluations. Conclusions from this review provide important insights related to sensor survivability and enhancement options for improving sensor performance. In addition, this document provides recommendations related to the sensor survivability and data evaluation

Severe accident research in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duco, J.; Reocreux, M.; Tattegrain, A.

1988-01-01

French PWR power plant design relies basically on a deterministic approach. Nevertheless, an overall safety objective was issued in 1977 by the safety authority which set an upper probability limit for having unacceptable consequences; this resulted, in particular, in the elaboration of the ''H'' procedures, aimed at reducing significantly the risk of core uncovery subsequent to the loss of redunbant safety-related systems. The U1 symptom-oriented procedure, based on the nuclear steam supply system ''cooling states'', was introduced later, in order to prevent core melting in situations where the operating crew was confused by multiple failures and/or inappropriate previous actions. In the event that a core-melt should occur, the ultimate procedures U2, U4 and U5 - the latter providing a venting of the containment through a filtration system - should enable the radioactive releases to be limited to characteristics compatible with the feasibility of the off-site emergency plans. Such emergency management procedures necessitate a significant study effort in order to be elaborated and qualified; this also presupposes that an adequate level of scientific knowledge has been gained as regards the response of specific components of a PWR under beyond-design conditions. The purpose of severe accident research in France is to attain a level of basic knowledge such that emergency procedures may be conceived and ultimately tested

Accident management for severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bari, R.A.; Pratt, W.T.; Lehner, J.; Leonard, M.; Disalvo, R.; Sheron, B.

1988-01-01

The management of severe accidents in light water reactors is receiving much attention in several countries. The reduction of risk by measures and/or actions that would affect the behavior of a severe accident is discussed. The research program that is being conducted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission focuses on both in-vessel accident management and containment and release accident management. The key issues and approaches taken in this program are summarized. 6 refs

Hydrogen behavior in a large-dry pressurized water reactor containment building during a severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu Wensheng; Chen Hungpei; Hung Zhenyu; Lin Huichen

2014-01-01

Following severe accidents in nuclear power plants, large quantities of hydrogen may be generated after core degradation. If the hydrogen is transported from the reactor vessel into the containment building, an explosion might occur, which might threaten the integrity of the building; this can ultimately cause the release of radioactive materials. During the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011, the primary containment structures remained intact but contaminated fragments broke off the secondary containment structures, which disrupted mitigation activities and triggered subsequent explosions. Therefore, the ability to predict the behavior of hydrogen after severe accidents may facilitate the development of effective nuclear reactor accident management procedures. The present study investigated the behavior of hydrogen in a large-dry pressurized water reactor (PWR). The amount of hydrogen produced was calculated using the Modular Accident Analysis Program. The hydrogen transport behavior and the effect of the explosion on the PWR containment building were simulated using the Flame Acceleration Simulator. The simulation results showed that the average hydrogen volume fraction is approximately 7% in the containment building and that the average temperature is 330 K. The maximum predicted pressure load after ignition is 2.55 bar, which does not endanger the structural integrity of the containment building. The results of this investigation indicate that the hydrogen mitigation system should be arranged on both the upper and lower parts of the containment building to reduce the impact of an explosion. (author)

EPR design features to mitigate severe accident challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazurkiewicz, S.M.; Fischer, M.; Bittermann, D.

2005-01-01

The EPR, an evolutionary pressurized water reactor (PWR), is a 4300-4500 MWth that incorporates proven technology within an optimized configuration to enhance safety. EPR was originally developed through a joint effort between Framatome ANP and Siemens by incorporating the best technological features from the French and German nuclear reactor fleets into a cost-competitive product. Commercial EPR units are currently being built in Finland at the Olkiluoto site, and planned for France at the Flamanville site. In recent months, Framatome ANP announced their intention to market the EPR units to China in response to a request for vendor bids as well as their intent to pursue design certification in the United States under 10CFR52. The EPR safety philosophy is based on a deterministic consideration of defense-in-depth complemented by probabilistic analyses. Not only is the EPR designed to prevent and mitigate design basis accidents (DBAs), it employs an extra level of safety associated with severe accident response. Therefore, as a design objective, features are included to ensure that radiological consequences are limited such that the need for stringent counter measures, such as evacuation and relocation of the nearby population, can be reasonably excluded. This paper discusses some of the innovative features of the EPR to address severe accident challenges. (author)

Reactor Core Coolability Analysis during Hypothesized Severe Accidents of OPR1000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yongjae; Seo, Seungwon; Kim, Sung Joong; Ha, Kwang Soon; Kim, Hwan-Yeol

2014-01-01

Assessment of the safety features over the hypothesized severe accidents may be performed experimentally or numerically. Due to the considerable time and expenditures, experimental assessment is implemented only to the limited cases. Therefore numerical assessment has played a major role in revisiting severe accident analysis of the existing or newly designed power plants. Computer codes for the numerical analysis of severe accidents are categorized as the fast running integral code and detailed code. Fast running integral codes are characterized by a well-balanced combination of detailed and simplified models for the simulation of the relevant phenomena within an NPP in the case of a severe accident. MAAP, MELCOR and ASTEC belong to the examples of fast running integral codes. Detailed code is to model as far as possible all relevant phenomena in detail by mechanistic models. The examples of detailed code is SCDAP/RELAP5. Using the MELCOR, Carbajo. investigated sensitivity studies of Station Black Out (SBO) using the MELCOR for Peach Bottom BWR. Park et al. conduct regulatory research of the PWR severe accident. Ahn et al. research sensitivity analysis of the severe accident for APR1400 with MELCOR 1.8.4. Lee et al. investigated RCS depressurization strategy and developed a core coolability map for independent scenarios of Small Break Loss-of-Coolant Accident (SBLOCA), SBO, and Total Loss of Feed Water (TLOFW). In this study, three initiating cases were selected, which are SBLOCA without SI, SBO, and TLOFW. The initiating cases exhibit the highest probability of transitioning into core damage according to PSA 1 of OPR 1000. The objective of this study is to investigate the reactor core coolability during hypothesized severe accidents of OPR1000. As a representative indicator, we have employed Jakob number and developed JaCET and JaMCT using the MELCOR simulation. Although the RCS pressures for the respective accident scenarios were different, the JaMCT and Ja

Radionuclide release calculations for selected severe accident scenarios. Volume 3. PWR, subatmospheric containment design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denning, R.S.; Gieseke, J.A.; Cybulskis, P.; Lee, K.W.; Jordan, H.; Curtis, L.A.; Kelly, R.F.; Kogan, V.; Schumacher, P.M.

1986-07-01

This report presents results of analyses of the enviromental releases of fission products (source terms) for severe accident scenarios in a pressurized water reactor with a subatmospheric containment design. The analyses were performed to support the Severe Accident Risk Reduction/Risk Rebaselining Program (SARRP) which is being undertaken for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Sandia National Laboratories. In the SARRP program, risk estimates are being generated for a number of reference plant designs. the Surry plant has been used in this study as the reference plant for a subatmospheric design

A Bayesian ensemble of sensitivity measures for severe accident modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoseyni, Seyed Mohsen [Department of Basic Sciences, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Di Maio, Francesco, E-mail: francesco.dimaio@polimi.it [Energy Department, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano (Italy); Vagnoli, Matteo [Energy Department, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano (Italy); Zio, Enrico [Energy Department, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano (Italy); Chair on System Science and Energetic Challenge, Fondation EDF – Electricite de France Ecole Centrale, Paris, and Supelec, Paris (France); Pourgol-Mohammad, Mohammad [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-12-15

Highlights: • We propose a sensitivity analysis (SA) method based on a Bayesian updating scheme. • The Bayesian updating schemes adjourns an ensemble of sensitivity measures. • Bootstrap replicates of a severe accident code output are fed to the Bayesian scheme. • The MELCOR code simulates the fission products release of LOFT LP-FP-2 experiment. • Results are compared with those of traditional SA methods. - Abstract: In this work, a sensitivity analysis framework is presented to identify the relevant input variables of a severe accident code, based on an incremental Bayesian ensemble updating method. The proposed methodology entails: (i) the propagation of the uncertainty in the input variables through the severe accident code; (ii) the collection of bootstrap replicates of the input and output of limited number of simulations for building a set of finite mixture models (FMMs) for approximating the probability density function (pdf) of the severe accident code output of the replicates; (iii) for each FMM, the calculation of an ensemble of sensitivity measures (i.e., input saliency, Hellinger distance and Kullback–Leibler divergence) and the updating when a new piece of evidence arrives, by a Bayesian scheme, based on the Bradley–Terry model for ranking the most relevant input model variables. An application is given with respect to a limited number of simulations of a MELCOR severe accident model describing the fission products release in the LP-FP-2 experiment of the loss of fluid test (LOFT) facility, which is a scaled-down facility of a pressurized water reactor (PWR).

Regulatory research of the PWR severe accident information needs and instrumentation availability for hydrogen control and management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Jae-Hong; Park, Gun-Chul; Suh, Kune Y.; Kang, Yun-Moon; Lee, Un-Jang; Oh, Se-Chul; Lee, Jin-Yong [Seoul Nationl Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1998-03-15

During the current research period, we have set forth the methodology for identification of a severe accident, developed a framework for hydrogen management decision trees, and analyzed the literature on hydrogen management and experimental data for hydrogen bum. Specifically, we have summarized me results for information needs in a severe accident obtained in the U.S. and other countries, and applied the methodology to the reference plant YGN 3 and 4 as part of severe accident management. We have also examined the existing instruments in terms of their availability and survivability during a severe accident, and identified additionally needed information needs and instruments. We have identified dominant accident sequences for me reference plant YGN 3 and 4 to construct decision trees, and extracted available data from the IPE study of the plant. Based upon the data we have performed preliminary study on the decision tree and decision node. Last, we have examined various mechanisms for hydrogen generation and reIevant experimental data to predict me amount of hydrogen generation and governing factors in me process. We have also reviewed the hydrogen generation related models in the severe accident analysis.

SCAR - Post-Accident Simulator SIPA with safety analysis code CATHARE-2 and PWR cold shutdown state simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farvacque, M.; Faydide, B.; Dufeil, Ph.; Raimond, E.

2003-01-01

The use of Cathare in the simulators of pressurized water reactors has been effective since the beginning of the nineties. Scar project is the second stage of the Cathare strategy for the simulators, its main objective is the extension of the field of simulation to the accident situations in cold shutdown states. Work was carried out in 3 major areas: modelling, optimization and integration in the simulator. Throughout the project, the developments were part of a 3 stages validation strategy: -) elementary tests of the developments of new model on the N4 (1450 MW PWR); -) analytical tests and systems to ensure non regression of the validation of the physical laws of the Cathare code during the modifications carried out within the optimization stage; and -) overall tests of the SIPA-CP1 (900 MW PWR) simulator, controlled automatically by programmed scenarios including the transients which are carried out in PWR, the transients of the Regulatory Guides and the accident transients

Joint research project WASA-BOSS: Further development and application of severe accident codes. Assessment and optimization of accident management measures. Project B: Accident analyses for pressurized water reactors with the application of the ATHLET-CD code; Verbundprojekt WASA-BOSS: Weiterentwicklung und Anwendung von Severe Accident Codes. Bewertung und Optimierung von Stoerfallmassnahmen. Teilprojekt B: Druckwasserreaktor-Stoerfallanalysen unter Verwendung des Severe-Accident-Codes ATHLET-CD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jobst, Matthias; Kliem, Soeren; Kozmenkov, Yaroslav; Wilhelm, Polina

2017-02-15

Within the framework of the project an ATHLET-CD input deck for a generic German PWR of type KONVOI has been created. This input deck was applied to the simulation of severe accidents from the accident categories station blackout (SBO) and small-break loss-of-coolant accidents (SBLOCA). The complete accident transient from initial event at full power until the damage of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is covered and all relevant severe accident phenomena are modelled: start of core heat up, fission product release, melting of fuel and absorber material, oxidation and release of hydrogen, relocation of molten material inside the core, relocation to the lower plenum, damage and failure of the RPV. The model has been applied to the analysis of preventive and mitigative accident management measures for SBO and SBLOCA transients. Therefore, the measures primary side depressurization (PSD), injection to the primary circuit by mobile pumps and for SBLOCA the delayed injection by the cold leg hydro-accumulators have been investigated and the assumptions and start criteria of these measures have been varied. The time evolutions of the transients and time margins for the initiation of additional measures have been assessed. An uncertainty and sensitivity study has been performed for the early phase of one SBO scenario with PSD (until the start of core melt). In addition to that, a code -to-code comparison between ATHLET-CD and the severe accident code MELCOR has been carried out.

Dose calculations for severe LWR accident scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Margulies, T.S.; Martin, J.A. Jr.

1984-05-01

This report presents a set of precalculated doses based on a set of postulated accident releases and intended for use in emergency planning and emergency response. Doses were calculated for the PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) accident categories of the Reactor Safety Study (WASH-1400) using the CRAC (Calculations of Reactor Accident Consequences) code. Whole body and thyroid doses are presented for a selected set of weather cases. For each weather case these calculations were performed for various times and distances including three different dose pathways - cloud (plume) shine, ground shine and inhalation. During an emergency this information can be useful since it is immediately available for projecting offsite radiological doses based on reactor accident sequence information in the absence of plant measurements of emission rates (source terms). It can be used for emergency drill scenario development as well

Severe accident phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jokiniemi, J.; Kilpi, K.; Lindholm, I.; Maekynen, J.; Pekkarinen, E.; Sairanen, R.; Silde, A.

1995-02-01

Severe accidents are nuclear reactor accidents in which the reactor core is substantially damaged. The report describes severe reactor accident phenomena and their significance for the safety of nuclear power plants. A comprehensive set of phenomena ranging from accident initiation to containment behaviour and containment integrity questions are covered. The report is based on expertise gained in the severe accident assessment projects conducted at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). (49 refs., 32 figs., 12 tabs.)

Containment loading during severe core damage accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Evrard, J.M.; Cenerino, C.; Berthion, Y.; Carvallo, G.

1984-11-01

The objective of the article is to study the influence of the state of the reactor cavity (dry or flooded) and of the corium coolability on the thermal-hydraulics in the containment in the case of an accident sequence involving core melting and subsequent containment basemat erosion, in a 900 MWe PWR unit. Calculations are performed by using the JERICHO thermal hydraulics code

Potential for containment leak paths through electrical penetration assemblies under severe accident conditions. [PWR; BWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sebrell, W.

1983-07-01

The leakage behavior of containments beyond design conditions and knowledge of failure modes is required for evaluation of mitigation strategies for severe accidents, risk studies, emergency preparedness planning, and siting. These studies are directed towards assessing the risk and consequences of severe accidents. An accident sequence analysis conducted on a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), Mark I (MK I), indicated very high temperatures in the dry-well region, which is the location of the majority of electrical penetration assemblies. Because of the high temperatures, it was postulated in the ORNL study that the sealants would fail and all the electrical penetration assemblies would leak before structural failure would occur. Since other containments had similar electrical penetration assemblies, it was concluded that all containments would experience the same type of failure. The results of this study, however, show that this conclusion does not hold for PWRs because in the worst accident sequence, the long time containment gases stabilize to 350/sup 0/F. BWRs, on the other hand, do experience high dry-well temperatures and have a higher potential for leakage.

Behaviour of organic iodides under pwr accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alm, M.

1982-01-01

Laboratory experiments were performed to study the behaviour of radioactive methyl iodide under PWR loss-of-coolant conditions. The pressure relief equipment consisted of an autoclave for simulating the primary circuit and of an expansion vessel for simulating the conditions after a rupture in the reactor coolant system. After pressure relief, the composition of the CH 3 sup(127/131)I-containing steam-air mixture within the expansion vessel was analysed at 80 0 C over a period of 42 days. On the basis of the values measured and of data taken from the literature, both qualitative and quantitative assessments have been made as to the behaviour of radioactive methyl iodide in the event of loss-of-coolant accidents. (author)

Prevention of heavy missiles during severe PWR accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krieg, R.

1994-01-01

For future pressurized water reactors, which should be designed against core melt down accidents, missiles generated inside the containment present a severe problem for its integrity. The masses and geometries of the missiles as well as their velocities may vary to a great extend. Therefore, a reliable proof of the containment integrity is very difficult. To overcome this problem the potential sources of missiles are discussed. In section 5 it is concluded that the generation of heavy missiles must be prevented. Steam explosions must not damage the reactor vessel head. Thus fragments of the head cannot become missiles endangering the containment shell. Furthermore, during a melt-through failure of the reactor vessel under high pressure the resulting forces must not catapult the whole vessel against the containment shell. Only missiles caused by hydrogen explosions might be tolerable, but shielding structures which protect the containment shell might be required. Here further investigations are necessary. Finally, measures are described showing that the generation of heavy missiles can indeed be prevented. In section 6 investigations are explained which will confirm the strength of the reactor vessel head. In section 7 a device is discussed keeping the fragments of a failing reactor vessel at its place. (author). 12 refs., 8 figs

A computer code for analysis of severe accidents in LWRs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

The ICARE2 computer code, developed and validated since 1988 at IPSN (nuclear safety and protection institute), calculates in a mechanistic way the physical and chemical phenomena involved in the core degradation process during possible severe accidents in LWR's. The coupling between ICARE2 and the best-estimate thermal-hydraulics code CATHARE2 was completed at IPSN and led to the release of a first ICARE/CATHARE V1 version in 1999, followed by 2 successive revisions in 2000 and 2001. This documents gathers all the contributions presented at the first international ICARE/CATHARE users'club seminar that took place in November 2001. This seminar was characterized by a high quality and variety of the presentations, showing an increase of reactor applications and user needs in this area (2D/3D aspects, reflooding, corium slumping into the lower head,...). 2 sessions were organized. The first one was dedicated to the applications of ICARE2 V3mod1 against small-scale experiments such as PHEBUS FPT2 and FPT3 tests, PHEBUS AIC, QUENCH experiments, NRU-FLHT-5 test, ACRR-MP1 and DC1 experiments, CORA-PWR tests, and PBF-SFD1.4 test. The second session involved ICARE/CATHARE V1mod1 reactor applications and users'guidelines. Among reactor applications we found: code applicability to high burn-up fuel rods, simulation of the TMI-2 transient, simulation of a PWR-900 high pressure severe accident sequence, and the simulation of a VVER-1000 large break LOCA scenario. (A.C.)

A computer code for analysis of severe accidents in LWRs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

The ICARE2 computer code, developed and validated since 1988 at IPSN (nuclear safety and protection institute), calculates in a mechanistic way the physical and chemical phenomena involved in the core degradation process during possible severe accidents in LWR's. The coupling between ICARE2 and the best-estimate thermal-hydraulics code CATHARE2 was completed at IPSN and led to the release of a first ICARE/CATHARE V1 version in 1999, followed by 2 successive revisions in 2000 and 2001. This documents gathers all the contributions presented at the first international ICARE/CATHARE users'club seminar that took place in November 2001. This seminar was characterized by a high quality and variety of the presentations, showing an increase of reactor applications and user needs in this area (2D/3D aspects, reflooding, corium slumping into the lower head,...). 2 sessions were organized. The first one was dedicated to the applications of ICARE2 V3mod1 against small-scale experiments such as PHEBUS FPT2 and FPT3 tests, PHEBUS AIC, QUENCH experiments, NRU-FLHT-5 test, ACRR-MP1 and DC1 experiments, CORA-PWR tests, and PBF-SFD1.4 test. The second session involved ICARE/CATHARE V1mod1 reactor applications and users'guidelines. Among reactor applications we found: code applicability to high burn-up fuel rods, simulation of the TMI-2 transient, simulation of a PWR-900 high pressure severe accident sequence, and the simulation of a VVER-1000 large break LOCA scenario. (A.C.)

A computer code for analysis of severe accidents in LWRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

The ICARE2 computer code, developed and validated since 1988 at IPSN (nuclear safety and protection institute), calculates in a mechanistic way the physical and chemical phenomena involved in the core degradation process during possible severe accidents in LWR's. The coupling between ICARE2 and the best-estimate thermal-hydraulics code CATHARE2 was completed at IPSN and led to the release of a first ICARE/CATHARE V1 version in 1999, followed by 2 successive revisions in 2000 and 2001. This documents gathers all the contributions presented at the first international ICARE/CATHARE users'club seminar that took place in November 2001. This seminar was characterized by a high quality and variety of the presentations, showing an increase of reactor applications and user needs in this area (2D/3D aspects, reflooding, corium slumping into the lower head,...). 2 sessions were organized. The first one was dedicated to the applications of ICARE2 V3mod1 against small-scale experiments such as PHEBUS FPT2 and FPT3 tests, PHEBUS AIC, QUENCH experiments, NRU-FLHT-5 test, ACRR-MP1 and DC1 experiments, CORA-PWR tests, and PBF-SFD1.4 test. The second session involved ICARE/CATHARE V1mod1 reactor applications and users'guidelines. Among reactor applications we found: code applicability to high burn-up fuel rods, simulation of the TMI-2 transient, simulation of a PWR-900 high pressure severe accident sequence, and the simulation of a VVER-1000 large break LOCA scenario. (A.C.)

Regulation Plans on Severe Accidents developed by KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyun Tae; Chung, Ku Young; Na, Han Bee

2016-01-01

Some nuclear power plants in Fukushima Daiichi site had lost their emergency reactor cooling function for long-time so the fuels inside the reactors were molten, and the integrity of containment was damaged. Therefore, large amount of radioactive material was released to environment. Because the social and economic effects of severe accidents are enormous, Korean Government already issued 'Severe Accident Policy' in 2001 which requires nuclear power plant operators to set up 'Quantitative Safety Goal', to do 'Probabilistic Safety Analysis', to install 'Severe Accident Countermeasures' and to make 'Severe Accident Management Plan'. After the Fukushima disaster, a Special Safety Inspection was performed for all operating nuclear power plants of Korea. The inspection team from industry, academia, and research institutes assessed Korean NPPs capabilities to cope with or respond to severe accidents and emergency situation caused by natural disasters such as a large earthquake or tsunami. As a result of the special inspection, about 50 action items were identified to increase the capability to cope with natural disaster and severe accidents. Nuclear Safety Act has been amended to require NPP operators to submit Accident Management Plant as part of operating license application. The KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT had first investigated oversea severe accident regulation trend before and after the Fukushima accident. Then, the TFT has developed regulation draft for severe accidents such as Severe accident Management Plans, the required design features for new NPPs to prevent severe accident against multiple failures and beyond-design external events, countermeasures to mitigate severe accident and to keep the integrity of containment, and assessment methodology on safety assessment plan and probabilistic safety assessment

Determination of optimal LWR containment design, excluding accidents more severe than Class 8

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cave, L.; Min, T.K.

1980-04-01

Information is presented concerning the restrictive effect of existing NRC requirements; definition of possible targets for containment; possible containment systems for LWR; optimization of containment design for class 3 through class 8 accidents (PWR); estimated costs of some possible containment arrangements for PWR relative to the standard dry containment system; estimated costs of BWR containment

The physical and chemical degradation of PWR fuel rods in severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsons, P.D.; Mowat, J.A.S.; Dewhurst, D.W.F.; Hughes, T.E.

1983-01-01

An experimental study of the interaction between Zircaloy-4 cladding and UO 2 in PWR fuel rods heated to high temperatures with a negligible differential pressure across the cladding wall is described. The fuel rods were of dimensions appropriate to the 17x17 PWR fuel sub-assembly and were heated in a non-oxidising environment (vacuum) up to approx. 1850 deg. C either isothermally or through heating ramps. Observations were made concerning the extent and nature of the reaction zone between Zircaloy-4 and UO 2 over the temperature range 1500-1850 deg. C for times ranging from 1 min to 125 min. The location, morphology and the chemical composition of the phases formed are described along with the kinetics of their formation. (author)

Debris interactions in reactor vessel lower plena during a severe accident. II. Integral analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, K.Y.; Henry, R.E.

1996-01-01

For pt.I see ibid., p.147-63, 1996. The integral physico-numerical model for the reactor vessel lower head response has been exercised for the TMI-2 accident and possible severe accident scenarios in PWR and BWR designs. The proposed inherent cooling mechanism of the reactor material creep and subsequent water ingression implemented in this predictive model provides a consistent representation of how the debris was finally cooled in the TMI-2 accident and how the reactor lower head integrity was maintained during the course of the incident. It should be recalled that in order for this strain to occur, the vessel lower head had to achieve temperatures in excess of 1000 C. This is certainly in agreement with the temperatures determined by metallographic examinations during the TMI-2 vessel inspection program. The integral model was also applied to typical PWR and BWR lower plena with and without structures under pressurized conditions spanning the first relocation of core material to the reactor vessel failure due to creep without recovery actions. The design application results are presented with particular attention being focused on water ingression into the debris bed through the gap formed between the debris and the vessel wall. As an illustration of the accident management application, the lower plenum with structures was recovered after an extensive amount of creep had damaged the vessel wall. The computed lower head temperatures were found to be significantly lower (by more than 300 K in this particular example) with recovery relative to the case without recovery. This clearly demonstrates the potential for in-vessel cooling of the reactor vessel without a need to externally submerge the lower head should such a severe accident occur as core melting and relocation. (orig.)

Control rod ejection accident analysis for a PWR with thorium fuel loading

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Da Cruz, D.F. [Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group NRG, Westerduinweg 3, P.O. Box 25, 1755 ZG Petten (Netherlands)

2010-07-01

This paper presents the results of 3-D transient analysis of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) core loaded with 100% Th-Pu MOX fuel assemblies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety impact of applying a full loading of this innovative fuel in PWRs of the current generation. A reactivity insertion accident scenario has been simulated using the reactor core analysis code PANTHER, used in conjunction with the lattice code WIMS. A single control rod assembly, with the highest reactivity worth, has been considered to be ejected from the core within 100 milliseconds, which may occur due to failure of the casing of the control rod driver mechanism. Analysis at both hot full power and hot zero power reactor states have been taken into account. The results were compared with those obtained for a representative PWR fuelled with UO{sub 2} fuel assemblies. In general the results obtained for both cores were comparable, with some differences associated mainly to the harder neutron spectrum observed for the Th-Pu MOX core, and to some specific core design features. The study has been performed as part of the LWR-DEPUTY project of the EURATOM 6. Framework Programme, where several aspects of novel fuels are being investigated for deep burning of plutonium in existing nuclear power plants. (authors)

Regulation Plans on Severe Accidents developed by KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kyun Tae; Chung, Ku Young; Na, Han Bee [KINS, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

Some nuclear power plants in Fukushima Daiichi site had lost their emergency reactor cooling function for long-time so the fuels inside the reactors were molten, and the integrity of containment was damaged. Therefore, large amount of radioactive material was released to environment. Because the social and economic effects of severe accidents are enormous, Korean Government already issued 'Severe Accident Policy' in 2001 which requires nuclear power plant operators to set up 'Quantitative Safety Goal', to do 'Probabilistic Safety Analysis', to install 'Severe Accident Countermeasures' and to make 'Severe Accident Management Plan'. After the Fukushima disaster, a Special Safety Inspection was performed for all operating nuclear power plants of Korea. The inspection team from industry, academia, and research institutes assessed Korean NPPs capabilities to cope with or respond to severe accidents and emergency situation caused by natural disasters such as a large earthquake or tsunami. As a result of the special inspection, about 50 action items were identified to increase the capability to cope with natural disaster and severe accidents. Nuclear Safety Act has been amended to require NPP operators to submit Accident Management Plant as part of operating license application. The KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT had first investigated oversea severe accident regulation trend before and after the Fukushima accident. Then, the TFT has developed regulation draft for severe accidents such as Severe accident Management Plans, the required design features for new NPPs to prevent severe accident against multiple failures and beyond-design external events, countermeasures to mitigate severe accident and to keep the integrity of containment, and assessment methodology on safety assessment plan and probabilistic safety assessment.

Projects of Modifications of design for mitigation of accidents outside the design Bases on nuclear Central PWR Siemens-KWU and Westinghouse; Proyectos de Modificaciones de Sieno para Mitigacion de Accidentes fuera de la Bases de Diseno en Centrales Nucleares PWR Siemens-KWU y Westinghouse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dominguez Gonzalez, G.; Cano Rodriguez, L. A.; Arguello Tara, A.

2014-07-01

Following the accident at the Japanese Fukushima-Daiichi NPP, the different regulators of nuclear power generation have required numerous reports regarding the evaluation and modification of the capacity of the plants to face accidents with severities beyond that established in their Design Bases. Under this new scenario, with multiple new demands and commitments, EA has carried out the required works for the implementation of strategies to mitigate the consequences of beyond Design Basis accidents for utilities owning Siemens-KWU and Westinghouse PWR nuclear power plants. (Author)

Degraded core accidents: review of aerosol behaviour in the containment of a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nichols, A.L.; Walker, B.C.

1981-09-01

Low probability-high consequence accidents have become an important issue in reactor safety studies. Such accidents would involve damage to the core and the subsequent release of radioactive fission products into the environment. Aerosols play a major role in the transport and removal of these fission products in the reactor building containment. The aerosol mechanisms, computer modelling codes and experimental studies used to predict aerosol behaviour in the containment of a PWR are reviewed. There are significant uncertainties in the aerosol source terms and specific recommendations have been made for further studies, particularly with respect to code development and high density aerosol-fission product transport within closed systems. (author)

Thermal-hydraulic analysis best-estimate of an accident in the containment a PWR-W reactor with GOTHIC code using a 3D model detailed; Analisis termo-hidraulico best-estimate de un accidente en contencion de un reactor PWR-W con el codigo GOTHIC mediante un modelo 3D detallado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bocanegra, R.; Jimenez, G.

2013-07-01

The objective of this project will be a model of containment PWR-W with the GOTHIC code that allows analyzing the behavior detailed after a design basis accident or a severe accident. Unlike the models normally used in codes of this type, the analysis will take place using a three-dimensional model of the containment, being this much more accurate.

Severe accident development modeling and evaluation for CANDU

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Negut, Gheorghe [National Agency for Radioactive Waste, 1, Campului Str., 115400 Mioveni (Romania)], E-mail: gheorghe.negut@andrad.ro; Catana, Alexandru [Institute for Nuclear Research Pitesti, 1, Campului Str., Mioveni P.O. Box 78, 0300 Pitesti (Romania); Prisecaru, Ilie; Dupleac, Daniel [Politehnica University Bucharest, 313, Splaiul Independentei, Sect. 6, 060042 Bucharest (Romania)

2009-09-15

Romania as UE member got new challenges for its nuclear industry. Romania operates since 1996 a CANDU nuclear power reactor and since 2007 the second CANDU unit. In EU are operated mainly PWR reactors, so, ours have to meet UE standards. Safety analysis guidelines require to model nuclear reactors severe accidents. Starting from previous studies, a CANDU degraded core thermal hydraulic model was developed. The initiating event is a LOCA, with simultaneous loss of moderator cooling and the loss of emergency core cooling system (ECCS). This type of accident is likely to modify the reactor geometry and will lead to a severe accident development. When the coolant temperature inside a pressure tube reaches 1000 deg. C, a contact between pressure tube and calandria tube occurs and the decay heat is transferred to the moderator. Due to the lack of cooling, the moderator, eventually, begins to boil and is expelled, through the calandria vessel relief ducts, into the containment. Therefore the calandria tubes (fuel channels) uncover, then disintegrate and fall down to the calandria vessel bottom. All the quantity of calandria moderator is vaporized and expelled, the debris will heat up and eventually boil. The heat accumulated in the molten debris will be transferred through the calandria vessel wall to the shield tank water, which surrounds the calandria vessel. The thermal hydraulics phenomena described above are modeled, analyzed and compared with the existing data.

Severe accident development modeling and evaluation for CANDU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negut, Gheorghe; Catana, Alexandru; Prisecaru, Ilie; Dupleac, Daniel

2009-01-01

Romania as UE member got new challenges for its nuclear industry. Romania operates since 1996 a CANDU nuclear power reactor and since 2007 the second CANDU unit. In EU are operated mainly PWR reactors, so, ours have to meet UE standards. Safety analysis guidelines require to model nuclear reactors severe accidents. Starting from previous studies, a CANDU degraded core thermal hydraulic model was developed. The initiating event is a LOCA, with simultaneous loss of moderator cooling and the loss of emergency core cooling system (ECCS). This type of accident is likely to modify the reactor geometry and will lead to a severe accident development. When the coolant temperature inside a pressure tube reaches 1000 deg. C, a contact between pressure tube and calandria tube occurs and the decay heat is transferred to the moderator. Due to the lack of cooling, the moderator, eventually, begins to boil and is expelled, through the calandria vessel relief ducts, into the containment. Therefore the calandria tubes (fuel channels) uncover, then disintegrate and fall down to the calandria vessel bottom. All the quantity of calandria moderator is vaporized and expelled, the debris will heat up and eventually boil. The heat accumulated in the molten debris will be transferred through the calandria vessel wall to the shield tank water, which surrounds the calandria vessel. The thermal hydraulics phenomena described above are modeled, analyzed and compared with the existing data.

Transient performance of flow in PWR reactor circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirdes, V.R.T.R.; Carajilescov, P.

1988-12-01

Generally, PWR's are designed with several primary loops, each one provided with a pump to circulate the coolant through the core. If one or more of these pumps fail, there would be a decrease in reactor flow rate which cause coolant phase change in the core and components overheating. The present work establishes a simulation model for pump failure in PWR's and the SARDAN-FLOW computes code was developed, considering any combination of such failures. Based on the data of Angra I, several accident and operational transient conditions were simulated. (author) [pt

Icare/Cathare coupling: three-dimensional thermal hydraulics of severe LWR accidents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guillard, V.; Fichot, F. [CEA Fontenay aux Roses, Inst. de Protection et de Surete Nucleaire, Dept. de Recherches en Securite, DRS, 92 (France); Boudier, P.; Parent, M. [CEA Grenoble, Dir. des Reacteurs Nucleaires, DRN, 38 (France); Roser, R. [Communication et Systemes Systemes d' Information, CS SI, 38 - Fontaine (France)

2001-07-01

In the phenomenology of severe LWR accidents considered in safety studies, the accidental sequences can be divided into three phases: the initial phase, where no severe damage of fuel or control rods and structures occurs; the early core degradation phase, where limited material melting and relocation takes place; and the late core degradation phase during which substantial material relocation happens, molten pools and debris beds can form and corium may fall into the lower plenum and, in case of vessel failure, come into the containment. The CATHARE2 code is a system code which has been developed by CEA for IPSN, EDF and FRAMATOME to describe the thermal-hydraulics behavior of a whole PWR circuit during the first of these three phases, with a core degradation model limited to clad rupture. The ICARE2 code, developed by IPSN, allows the complete description of early and late core degradation phases, with a thermal-hydraulics model limited to the vessel, initial and boundary conditions being provided by a system code. The aim of this paper is to present the main features of the new version of the coupling, ICARE/CATHARE V2. First, the general characteristics of ICARE2 V3mod1 and CATHARE2 V1.5 standard codes, dealing with physical models and numerical aspects, are described. Second, the technical features of the coupling between the two codes are detailed. At last, some results of ICARE/CATHARE V2 calculations are presented which demonstrate the ability of the code to simulate a severe accident in a PWR and notably to describe multi-dimensional effects occurring in the core during the LOCA and degradation phases. (authors)

Conditions for oxygen-deficient combustion during accidents with severe core concrete thermal attack

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luangdilok, W.; Elicson, G.T.; Berger, W.E. Jr.

1993-01-01

This paper addresses the interactions between MCCI (molten core-concrete interactions)-induced offgas releases, mostly the combustible gases, natural circulation between the cavity and the lower containment based on recent research developments in the area of mixed convection flow (Epstein, et al., 1989; Epstein, 1988; Epstein, 1992) between compartments, and their effects on combustion in PWR containments during prolonged severe accidents. Specifically, large dry PWR containments undergoing severe core-concrete attack during station blackouts where the containment atmosphere is expected to be inerted are objects of this analysis. The purpose of this paper, given the conditions that oxygen can be brought to the cavity, is to demonstrate that consumption of most oxygen present in the containment can be achieved in a reasonable time scale assuming that combustion is not subject to flammability limits due to the high cavity temperatures. The conditions for cavity combustion depend on several factors including good gas flowpaths between the cavity and other containment regions, and combustion processes within the cavity with the hot debris acting as the ignition source

Most likely failure location during severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rempe, J.L.; Allison, C.M.

1991-01-01

This paper describes preliminary results from which finite element calculation results are used in conjunction with analytical calculation results to predict failure in different LWR vessel designs during a severe accident. Detailed analyses are being performed to investigate the relative likelihood of a BWR vessel and drain line penetration to fail during a wide range of severe accident conditions. Analytically developed failure maps, which were developed in terms of dimensionless groups, are applied to consider geometries and materials occurring in other LWR vessel designs. Preliminary numerical analysis results indicate that if ceramic debris relocates within the BWR drain line to a distance below the lower head, the drain line will reach failure temperatures before the vessel fails. Application of failure maps for these debris conditions to other LWR geometries indicate that in-vessel tube melting will occur in either BWR or PWR vessel designs. Furthermore, if this melt is assumed to fill the entire penetration flow area, the melt is predicted to travel well below the lower head in any of the reference LWR penetrations. However, failure maps suggest the result that ex-vessel tube temperatures exceed the penetration's ultimate strength is specific to the BWR drain line because of its material composition and relatively large effective diameter for melt flow

PSA LEVEL 3 DAN IMPLEMENTASINYA PADA KAJIAN KESELAMATAN PWR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pande Made Udiyani

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Kajian keselamatan PLTN menggunakan metodologi kajian probabilistik sangat penting selain kajian deterministik. Metodologi kajian menggunakan Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA Level 3 diperlukan terutama untuk estimasi kecelakaan parah atau kecelakaan luar dasar desain PLTN. Metode ini banyak dilakukan setelah kejadian kecelakaan Fukushima. Dalam penelitian ini dilakukan implementasi PSA Level 3 pada kajian keselamatan PWR, postulasi kecelakan luar dasar desain PWR AP-1000 dan disimulasikan di contoh tapak Bangka Barat. Rangkaian perhitungan yang dilakukan adalah: menghitung suku sumber dari kegagalan teras yang terjadi, pemodelan kondisi meteorologi tapak dan lingkungan, pemodelan jalur paparan, analisis dispersi radionuklida dan transportasi fenomena di lingkungan, analisis deposisi radionuklida, analisis dosis radiasi, analisis perlindungan & mitigasi, dan analisis risiko. Kajian menggunakan rangkaian subsistem pada perangkat lunak PC Cosyma. Hasil penelitian membuktikan bahwa implementasi metode kajian keselamatan PSA Level 3 sangat efektif dan komprehensif terhadap estimasi dampak, konsekuensi, risiko, kesiapsiagaan kedaruratan nuklir (nuclear emergency preparedness, dan manajemen kecelakaan reaktor terutama untuk kecelakaan parah atau kecelakaan luar dasar desain PLTN. Hasil kajian dapat digunakan sebagai umpan balik untuk kajian keselamatan PSA Level 1 dan PSA Level 2. Kata kunci: PSA level 3, kecelakaan, PWR   Reactor safety assessment of nuclear power plants using probabilistic assessment methodology is most important in addition to the deterministic assessment. The methodology of Level 3 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA is especially required to estimate severe accident or beyond design basis accidents of nuclear power plants. This method is carried out after the Fukushima accident. In this research, the postulations beyond design basis accidentsof PWR AP - 1000 would be taken, and simulated at West Bangka sample site. The

Cost per severe accident as an index for severe accident consequence assessment and its applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Kampanart; Ishiwatari, Yuki; Takahara, Shogo

2014-01-01

The Fukushima Accident emphasizes the need to integrate the assessments of health effects, economic impacts, social impacts and environmental impacts, in order to perform a comprehensive consequence assessment of severe accidents in nuclear power plants. “Cost per severe accident” is introduced as an index for that purpose. The calculation methodology, including the consequence analysis using level 3 probabilistic risk assessment code OSCAAR and the calculation method of the cost per severe accident, is proposed. This methodology was applied to a virtual 1,100 MWe boiling water reactor. The breakdown of the cost per severe accident was provided. The radiation effect cost, the relocation cost and the decontamination cost were the three largest components. Sensitivity analyses were carried out, and parameters sensitive to cost per severe accident were specified. The cost per severe accident was compared with the amount of source terms, to demonstrate the performance of the cost per severe accident as an index to evaluate severe accident consequences. The ways to use the cost per severe accident for optimization of radiation protection countermeasures and for estimation of the effects of accident management strategies are discussed as its applications. - Highlights: • Cost per severe accident is used for severe accident consequence assessment. • Assessments of health, economic, social and environmental impacts are included. • Radiation effect, relocation and decontamination costs are important cost components. • Cost per severe accident can be used to optimize radiation protection measures. • Effects of accident management can be estimated using the cost per severe accident

Development of a PWR-W GOTHIC 3D model for containment accident analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bocanegra, Rafael; Jimenez, Gonzalo; Fernández-Cosials, Mikel Kevin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The development of several 3D PWR containment models is described. • A Large Break LOCA is simulated. • The temperature and velocity fields are highly dependent on three-dimensional phenomena. • The pressure evolution is qualitatively similar in all models with small quantitative differences. - Abstract: The confinement of radioactive material in a nuclear power plant, including the discharge control and the release minimization, is a fundamental safety function to be ensured in a design basis accident (DBA). For plant licensing analysis, the containment is usually modeled with a lumped parameter approach. Inherent to the lumped parameter approach is the assumption that within each region the fluid is well mixed. However, the containment is a large building with a complex configuration and it is distributed in several compartments that avoid the well mixing of the fluid and could have three-dimensional effects that affect the thermal–hydraulic behavior. Therefore, the commonly used lumped parameter approach may not be enough to capture these effects. In order to study these assumptions, four generic PWR containment models have been developed for Mass and Energy (M&E) release analysis with GOTHIC 8.0 (QA) code, three of them being subdivided and the fourth one is a lumped parameter model. A Large Break LOCA is simulated in order to compare the thermal–hydraulic behavior of the different models. The results show a high dependence on the three-dimensional phenomena, especially the temperature and velocity distribution. In contrast, the pressure evolution is qualitatively similar in all models with small quantitative differences.

JERICHO computer code: PWR containment response during severe accidents description and sensitivity analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Evrard, J.M.

1983-12-01

The JERICHO code has been developed in order to study the thermodynamic behaviour inside the reactor containment building for the complete spectrum of accident sequences likely to occur in such a reactor, including models for the various mass and energy transfer phenomena, for water spray, for hydrogen and carbon monoxide flammability limits and combustion, as well as for containment venting. Sensitivity analyses have been performed on a severe accident sequence, (namely, small LOCA with failure of the emergency core cooling and containment spray systems), involving core melting and subsequent concrete containment basemat erosion. The effect of various models, such as mass and energy transfer to the structures, has been studied. The influence of the concrete composition, of the fission product deposition and of the thermal degradation of the reactor cavity concrete walls on long term thermodynamic behaviour has also been investigated

The influence of simultaneous or sequential test conditions in the properties of industrial polymers, submitted to PWR accident simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlin, F.; Alba, C.; Chenion, J.; Gaussens, G.; Henry, J.Y.

1986-10-01

The effect of PWR plant normal and accident operating conditions on polymers forms the basis of nuclear qualification of safety-related containment equipment. This study was carried out on the request of safety organizations. Its purpose was to check whether accident simulations carried out sequentially during equipment qualification tests would lead to the same deterioration as that caused by an accident involving simultaneous irradiation and thermodynamic effects. The IPSN, DAS and the United States NRC have collaborated in preparing this study. The work carried out by ORIS Company as well as the results obtained from measurement of the mechanical properties of 8 industrial polymers are described in this report. The results are given in the conclusion. They tend to show that, overall, the most suitable test cycle for simulating accident operating conditions would be one which included irradiation and consecutive thermodynamic shock. The results of this study and the results obtained in a previous study, which included the same test cycles, except for more severe thermo-ageing, have been compared. This comparison, which was made on three elastomers, shows that ageing after the accident has a different effect on each material [fr

MELCOR 1.8.3 application to NUPEC M-7-1 test (ISP-35) and two hydrogen severe accident scenarios in a typical PWR plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jimenez Garcia, M.A.; Martin-Fuertes, F.; Martin-Valdepenas, J.M.

1997-01-01

Combustion of the hydrogen released to the containment during a severe accident is one of the issues to establish the real threats to the third barrier integrity in nuclear power facilities. Computational efforts on management procedures, such as the containment spray operation, are being addressed at the CTN-UPM to cope with the problem. On top of this, studies about in-containment hydrogen distribution and combustion are currently carried out with the codes MELCOR 1.8.3 and ESTER 1.0-RALOC 2.2. In this study, MELCOR 1.8.3 has been validated against the NUPEC M-7-1 Test, which already showed in 1993 that a good agreement was reached out when the previous MELCOR 1.8.2 calculations were performed regarding to the helium distribution throughout the facility. Nevertheless, some discrepancies were detected when analysing wall and atmosphere temperatures. Generally, well-mixed atmosphere scenarios, in which the role played by the containment water spraying is of the major importance, appear when such a mechanism promotes the onset of convection driven flow patterns that rapidly homogenize the gas properties. The purpose of the new MELCOR 1.8.3 assessment is to take advantage of the newest implemented models to obtain a more realistic thermalhydraulics simulation. A variation case was also performed to highlight the influence of water spray operation. In a second part of the study, insights coming from the previous work were used to apply MELCOR 1.8.3 models to a SBO severe accident scenario management in a commercial 2700 MWt 3-loop W PWR containment

On-line measurements of RuO{sub 4} during a PWR severe accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reymond-Laruinaz, S.; Doizi, D. [CEA, DEN, Departement de Physico-chimie, CEA/Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, (France); Manceron, L. [Societe Civile Synchrotron SOLEIL, L' Orme des Merisiers, St-Aubin BP48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, (France); MONARIS, UMR 8233, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, case 49, F-75252 Paris Cedex 05, (France); Boudon, V. [Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne, UMR 6303 CNRS-Universite de Bourgogne, 9 avenue Alain Savary, BP 47870, F-21078 Dijon Cedex, (France); Ducros, G. [CEA, DEN, Departement d' Etudes des Combustibles, CEA/Cadarache, 13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance cedex, (France)

2015-07-01

After the Fukushima accident, it became essential to have a way to monitor in real time the evolution of a nuclear reactor during a severe accident, in order to react efficiently and minimize the industrial, ecological and health consequences of the accident. Among gaseous fission products, the tetroxide of ruthenium RuO{sub 4} is of prime importance since it has a significant radiological impact. Ruthenium is a low volatile fission product but in case of the rupture of the vessel lower head by the molten corium, the air entering into the vessel oxidizes Ru into gaseous RuO{sub 4}, which is not trapped by the Filtered Containment Venting Systems. To monitor the presence of RuO{sub 4} allows making a diagnosis of the core degradation and quantifying the release into the atmosphere. To determine the presence of RuO{sub 4}, FTIR spectrometry was selected. To study the feasibility of the monitoring, high-resolution IR measurements were realized at the French synchrotron facility SOLEIL on the infrared beam line AILES. Thereafter, theoretical calculations were done to simulate the FTIR spectrum to describe the specific IR fingerprint of the molecule for each isotope and based on its partial pressure in the air. (authors)

Safety against releases in severe accidents. Annual report 1996. Project plan 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The work scope of the RAK-2 project is divided into three sub-projects: RAK-2.1 Severe Accident Phenomenology; RAK-2.2 Computerised Accident Management; RAK-2.3 Reactors In Nordic Surroundings. The work in subproject 1 progresses roughly according to budget and time schedule. Some adjustments in the technical work scope were made during 1996. Main tasks of RAK-2.1 in 1996: Complete recriticality studies for Nordic BWRs; Investigate phenomena related to late phase melt progression; Issue and NKS Final Technical Report on KTH experiments. Main tasks of RAK-2.2 in 1996: CAMS would be further developed with signal validation, tracking simulation, state identification and PSA and risk monitoring applications; Carry out a feasibility study for development of a PWR version of CAMS in collaboration with EdF, France; Use CAMS in the Halden Man-Machine laboratory to perform human factor studies. Main tasks of RAK-2.3 in 1996: Collect and report data from the British reactor types AGR, MAGNOX and PWR; Make a report on accidents in nuclear ships; Put the collected data together in a common data base covering neighbour reactors treated in SIK-3 and RAK-2.3; Update the data in the former SIK-3 report if needed. The work in project 2 progresses according to plans. The data collection of British reactors with in sub-project 3 has been delayed significantly due to difficulty of obtaining information from some of the British utilities, but the problems are expected to be solved by the end of 1997. (EG)

Preliminary study of reasonableness of important parameters used in deriving OILs for PWR accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yongsheng, L.; Shongqi, S.

2004-01-01

Institute of nuclear energy technology, Tsinghua university, Beijing , China ,100084 Body of Abstract: This paper introduced the definition of operational intervention level (OIL) and the derived process of default OILs recommended by IAEA firstly. Then the paper focused on the reasonableness of two parameters, R1 and R2, which is assumed in derived process of default OIL1 and OIL2 in a reactor accident. The values of R1 and R2 were calculated by the calculating program of InterRas. The source item for computing includes the accidents PWR described in Wash-1400 and France severe accident source items, and furthermore the meteorological conditions for computing are classified to three classes, which are D stability class, A stability class, and F stability class with the mixing heights of 400 meters and 4 hour exposure to the plume. The wind speed is 3m/s, 2m/s and 1m/s correspond to the stability classes. The results show that the average values of R1 and R2 in the same accident series and different meteorological conditions derived by the calculating program of InterRas are close to the presumptive values. The results also indicated the rationalization of the default OIL1 and OIL2. On the other hand, the calculating results of different accidents have considerable disparity with the presumptive values in different distances and meteorological conditions, but the mutative trends are very well-regulated on distance and meteorological conditions. So the OILs recommended by IAEA are applicable to some specified conditions. At last the paper introduced the method of revising the default OILs in terms of measurement results. (Author)

Probabilistic Assessment of Severe Accident Consequence in West Bangka

Science.gov (United States)

Sunarko; Su'ud, Zaki

2017-07-01

Probabilistic dose assessment for severe accident condition is performed for West Bangka area. Source-term from WASH-1400 reactor analysis is used as a conservative release scenario for 1000 MWe PWR. Seven groups of isotopes are used in the simulation based on core inventory and release fraction. Population distribution for Muntok district and the area within a 100 km radius is obtained from 2014 data. Meteorological data is provided through cyclic sampling from a database containing two-year site-specific hourly records in 2014-2015 periods. PC-COSYMA segmented plume dispersion code is used to investigate the assumed the consequence of the accident scenario. The result indicates that early or deterministic effect is important for areas close the release point while long-term or stochastic effect is related to population distribution and covers area of up to 100 km from the release point. The mean annual expected values for early mortality and late mortality for the population within 100 km radius from Muntok site are 2.38×10-4 yr -1 and 1.33×10-3 yr -1 respectively.

Accident management information needs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanson, D.J.; Ward, L.W.; Nelson, W.R.; Meyer, O.R.

1990-04-01

In support of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Accident Management Research Program, a methodology has been developed for identifying the plant information needs necessary for personnel involved in the management of an accident to diagnose that an accident is in progress, select and implement strategies to prevent or mitigate the accident, and monitor the effectiveness of these strategies. This report describes the methodology and presents an application of this methodology to a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) with a large dry containment. A risk-important severe accident sequence for a PWR is used to examine the capability of the existing measurements to supply the necessary information. The method includes an assessment of the effects of the sequence on the measurement availability including the effects of environmental conditions. The information needs and capabilities identified using this approach are also intended to form the basis for more comprehensive information needs assessment performed during the analyses and development of specific strategies for use in accident management prevention and mitigation. 3 refs., 16 figs., 7 tabs

Accident management information needs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanson, D.J.; Ward, L.W.; Nelson, W.R.; Meyer, O.R. (EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (USA))

1990-04-01

In support of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Accident Management Research Program, a methodology has been developed for identifying the plant information needs necessary for personnel involved in the management of an accident to diagnose that an accident is in progress, select and implement strategies to prevent or mitigate the accident, and monitor the effectiveness of these strategies. This report describes the methodology and presents an application of this methodology to a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) with a large dry containment. A risk-important severe accident sequence for a PWR is used to examine the capability of the existing measurements to supply the necessary information. The method includes an assessment of the effects of the sequence on the measurement availability including the effects of environmental conditions. The information needs and capabilities identified using this approach are also intended to form the basis for more comprehensive information needs assessment performed during the analyses and development of specific strategies for use in accident management prevention and mitigation. 3 refs., 16 figs., 7 tabs.

Approach and results of the PWR low power and shutdown accident frequencies program - Coarse screening analysis for Surry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Luckas, W.; Wong, S.M.; Fitzpatrick, R.G.

1991-01-01

Traditionally, probabilistic risk analyses of severe accidents in nuclear power plants have limited themselves to consideration of the set of initiating events occurring during full power operation. However, some analyses of accident initiators during low power, shutdown, and other modes of plant operation other than full power have been performed. These studies as well as the Chernobyl accident and recent operating experience at US pressurized water reactors (PWRs) suggested that risks during low power and shutdown could be significant. As such, the analysis of the frequencies, consequences, and risks of these accidents was identified as one task in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff's study of the implications of the Chernobyl accident to US commercial nuclear power plants. This program is an ongoing high priority effort at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The scope includes a Level 1 probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) with internal fire and flood for Surry Unit 1 (PWR). This program is also closely coupled to a parallel project for the Grand Gulf plant (BWWR) being conducted by SNL. The program is being performed in two phases. Phase 1 represents a coarse screening analysis to identify dominant accident scenarios as well as risk dominant plant configurations and plant operating states. In Phase 2, a detailed PRA will be performed for the dominant accident scenarios/operating states identified in Phase 1. The objectives, results and insights of Phase 1 are discussed in the paper

Transient performance of flow in circuits of PWR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirdes, V.R.; Carajilescov, P.

1988-09-01

Generally, PWR's are designed with several primary loops, each one provided with a pump to circulate the coolant through the core. If one or more of these pumps fail, there would be a decrease in reactor flow rate which could cause coolant phase change in the core and components overheating. The present work establishes a simulation model for pump failure in PWR's and the SARDAN-FLOW computes code was developed, considering any combination of such failures. Based on the data of Angra I, several accident and operational transient conditions were simulated. (author) [pt

Iodine chemistry effect on source term assessments. A MELCOR 186 YT study of a PWR severe accident sequence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herranz, Luis E.; Garcia, Monica; Otero, Bernadette

2009-01-01

Level-2 Probabilistic Safety Analysis has demonstrated to be a powerful tool to give insights into multiple aspects concerning severe accidents: phenomena with the greatest potential to lead to containment failure, safety systems performance and, even, to identify any additional accident management that could mitigate the consequences of such an even, etc. A major result of level-2 PSA is iodine content in Source Term since it is the main responsible for the radiological impact during the first few days after a hypothetical severe accident. Iodine chemistry is known to considerably affect iodine behavior and although understanding has improved substantially since the early 90's, a thorough understanding is still missing and most PSA studies do not address it when assessing severe accident scenarios. This paper emphasizes the quantitative and qualitative significance of considering iodine chemistry in level-2 PSA estimates. To do so a cold leg break, low pressure severe accident sequence of an actual pressurized water reactor has been analyzed with the MELCOR 1.8.6 YT code. Two sets of calculations, with and without chemistry, have been carried out and compared. The study shows that iodine chemistry could result in an iodine release to environment about twice higher, most of which would consist of around 60% of iodine in gaseous form. From these results it is concluded that exploratory studies on the potential effect of iodine chemistry on source term estimates should be carried out. (author)

Assessment of ICARE/CATHARE V1 Severe Accident Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chatelard, Patrick; Fleurot, Joelle; Marchand, Olivier; Drai, Patrick

2006-01-01

The ICARE/CATHARE code system has been developed by the French 'Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire' (IRSN) in the last decade for the detailed evaluation of Severe Accident (SA) consequences in a primary system. It is composed of the coupling of the core degradation IRSN code ICARE2 and of the thermal-hydraulics French code CATHARE2. It has been extensively used to support the level 2 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA-2) of the 900 MWe PWR. This paper presents the synthesis of the ICARE/CATHARE V1 assessment which was conducted in the frame of the 'International ICARE/CATHARE Users' Club', under the management of IRSN. The ICARE/CATHARE V1 validation matrix is composed of more than 60 experiments, distributed in few thermal-hydraulics non-regression tests (to handle the front end phase of a severe accident), numerous Separate-Effect Tests, about 30 Integral Tests covering both the early and the late degradation phases, as well as a 'circuit' experiment including hydraulics loops. Finally, the simulation of the TMI-2 accident was also added to assess the code against real conditions. This validation task was aimed at assessing the ICARE/CATHARE V1 capabilities (including the stand-alone ICARE2 V3mod1 version) and also at proposing recommendations for an optimal use of this version ('Users' Guidelines'). Thus, with a correct account for the recommended guidelines, it appeared that the last ICARE/CATHARE V1 version could be reasonably used to perform best-estimate reactor studies up to a large corium slumping into the lower head. (authors)

Analysis of the core reflooding of a PWR reactor under a loss-of-coolant postulated accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Austregesilo Filho, H.

1978-12-01

The main purpose of this work is to analyse the termohydraulic behaviour of emergency cooling water, during reflooding of a PWR core submitted to a postulated loss-of-coolant accident, with the scope of giving the boundary conditions needed to verify fuel element and containment integrity. The analytical model presented was applied to the simulation of Angra I core reflooding phase, after a double-ended break between pressure vessel and discharge of one of the main coolant pumps. For this accident, with a discharge coefficient of C sub(D) = 0.4, the highest peak cladding temperature is expected. (author) [pt

Preliminary Analysis of Severe Accident Progression Initiated from Small Break LOCA of a SMART Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Young Ho; Park, Jong Hwa; Kim, Dong Ha; Cho, Seong Won

2010-01-01

SMART (System integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor), is under the development at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). SMART is an integral type pressurized water reactor which contains a pressurizer, 4 reactor coolant pumps (RCPs), and 8 steam generator cassettes(S/Gs) in a single reactor vessel. This reactor has substantially enhanced its safety with an integral layout of its major components, 4 trains of safety injection systems (SISs), and an adoption of 4 trains of passive residual heat removal systems (PRHRS) instead of an active auxiliary feedwater system . The thermal power is 330 MWth. During the conceptual design stage, a preliminary PSA was performed. PSA results identified that a small break loss of coolant accident (SLOCA) with all safety injections unavailable is one of important severe core damage sequences. Clear understanding of this sequence helps in the developing accident mitigation strategies. MIDAS/SMR computer code is used to simulate the severe accident progression initiated from a small break LOCA in SMART reactor. This code has capability to model a helical steam generator which is adopted in SMART reactor. The important accident progression results for SMART reactor are then compared with the typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) result

Thermal hydraulic behavior of a PWR under beyond-design-basis accident conditions: Conclusions from an experimental program in a 4-loop test facility (PKL)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umminger, K.J.; Kastner, W.; Mandl, R.M.; Weber, P.

1993-01-01

Within the scope of German reactor safety research, extensive experiments covering the behavior of nuclear power plants under accident conditions have been carried out in the PKL test facility which simulates a 4-loop, 1,300 MWe KWU-designed PWR. While the investigations dealing with design-basis accidents and with the efficiency of the emergency core cooling systems have been largely completed, the main interest nowadays concentrates on the investigation of beyond-design-basis accidents to demonstrate the safety margins of nuclear power plants and to investigate the contribution of the built-in safety features for a further reduction of the residual risk. The thermal hydraulic behavior of a PWR under these extreme accident conditions was experimentally investigated within the PKL III B test program. This paper presents the fundamental findings with some of the most important results being discussed in detail. Future plans are also outlined

Severe accident behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denning, R.S.

1986-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of severe accident behavior. The term source term is defined and a brief history of the regulatory use of source term is presented. The processes in severe accidents in light water reactors are described with particular emphasis on the relationships between accident thermal-hydraulics and chemistry. Those factors which have the greatest impact on predicted source terms are identified. Design differences between plants that affect source term estimation are also described. The principal unresolved issues are identified that are the focus of ongoing research and debate in the technical community

Severe accident analysis using MARCH 1.0 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guimaraes, A.C.F.

1987-09-01

The description and utilization of the MARCH 1.0 computer code, which aim to analyse physical phenomena associated with core meltdown accidents in PWR type reactors, are presented. The primary system is modeled as a single volume which is partitioned into a gas (steam and hydrogen) region and a water region. March predicts blowdown from the primary system in single phase. Based on results of the probabilistic safety analysis for the Zion and Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants, the S 2 HFX sequence accident for Angra-1 reactor is studied. The S 2 HFX sequence means that the loss of coolant accident occurs through small break in primary system with bot total failures of the reactor safety system and containment in yours recirculation modes, leading the core melt and the containment failure due to overpressurization. The obtained results were considered reasonable if compared with the results obtained for the Zion and Indian Point nuclear power plants. (Author) [pt

Integrated functional modeling method for NPP plant DiD risk monitor and its application for conventional PWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Yang, Ming; Zhang, Zhijian [Harbin Engineering University, Harbin (China)

2014-08-15

The development of a new risk monitor system is introduced in this paper, which can be applied not only to severe accident prevention in daily operation but also to serve as to mitigate the radiological hazard just after severe accident happens and long term management of post-severe accident consequences. The summary of the fundamental method is summarized on how to configure the Plant Defense in-Depth (Did) Risk Monitor by object-oriented software system based on functional modeling approach. Following the authors??preceding preliminary study for AP1000, the way of realizing the proposed method of configuring the plant Did risk monitor was investigated for a safety-enhanced Japanese PWR design to meet with the tight anti-severe accident requirements set by national regulation in Japan after Fukushima Daiichi accident. The result of this example practice of the presented preliminary study for Japanese PWR was for the level 4 of the Did in case of beyond design basis accident, that is, loss of all AC power + RCP seal LOCA, against the former case of AP1000 for level 3 Did in case of large LOCA.

Management of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jankowski, M.W.

1987-01-01

The definition and the multidimensionality aspects of accident management have been reviewed. The suggested elements in the development of a programme for severe accident management have been identified and discussed. The strategies concentrate on the two tiered approaches. Operative management utilizes the plant's equipment and operators capabilities. The recovery managment concevtrates on preserving the containment, or delaying its failure, inhibiting the release, and on strategies once there has been a release. The inspiration for this paper was an excellent overview report on perspectives on managing severe accidents in commercial nuclear power plants and extending plant operating procedures into the severe accident regime; and by the most recent publication of the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) considering the question of risk reduction and source term reduction through accident prevention, management and mitigation. The latter document concludes that 'active development of accident management measures by plant personnel can lead to very large reductions in source terms and risk', and goes further in considering and formulating the key issue: 'The most fruitful path to follow in reducing risk even further is through the planning of accident management.' (author)

Management of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jankowski, M.W.

1988-01-01

The definition and the multidimensionality aspects of accident management have been reviewed. The suggested elements in the development of a programme for severe accident management have been identified and discussed. The strategies concentrate on the two tiered approaches. Operative management utilizes the plant's equipment and operators capabilities. The recovery management concentrates on preserving the containment, or delaying its failure, inhibiting the release, and on strategies once there has been a release. The inspiration for this paper was an excellent overview report on perspectives on managing severe accidents in commercial nuclear power plants and extending plant operating procedures into the severe accident regime; and by the most recent publication of the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) considering the question of risk reduction and source term reduction through accident prevention, management and mitigation. The latter document concludes that active development of accident management measures by plant personnel can lead to very large reductions in source terms and risk, and goes further in considering and formulating the key issue: The most fruitful path to follow in reducing risk even further is through the planning of accident management

The radiological consequences of degraded core accidents for the Sizewell PWR The impact of adopting revised frequencies of occurrence

CERN Document Server

Kelly, G N

1983-01-01

The radiological consequences of degraded core accidents postulated for the Sizewell PWR were assessed in an earlier study and the results published in NRPB-R137. Further analyses have since been made by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) of degraded core accidents which have led to a revision of their predicted frequencies of occurrence. The implications of these revised frequencies, in terms of the risk to the public from degraded core accidents, are evaluated in this report. Increases, by factors typically within the range of about 1.5 to 7, are predicted in the consequences, compared with those estimated in the earlier study. However, the predicted risk from degraded core accidents, despite these increases, remains exceedingly small.

Beta and gamma dose calculations for PWR and BWR containments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, D.B.

1989-07-01

Analyses of gamma and beta dose in selected regions in PWR and BWR containment buildings have been performed for a range of fission product releases from selected severe accidents. The objective of this study was to determine the radiation dose that safety-related equipment could experience during the selected severe accident sequences. The resulting dose calculations demonstrate the extent to which design basis accident qualified equipment could also be qualified for the severe accident environments. Surry was chosen as the representative PWR plant while Peach Bottom was selected to represent BWRs. Battelle Columbus Laboratory performed the source term release analyses. The AB epsilon scenario (an intermediate to large LOCA with failure to recover onsite or offsite electrical power) was selected as the base case Surry accident, and the AE scenario (a large break LOCA with one initiating event and a combination of failures in two emergency cooling systems) was selected as the base case Peach Bottom accident. Radionuclide release was bounded for both scenarios by including spray operation and arrested sequences as variations of the base scenarios. Sandia National Laboratories used the source terms to calculate dose to selected containment regions. Scenarios with sprays operational resulted in a total dose comparable to that (2.20 x 10 8 rads) used in current equipment qualification testing. The base case scenarios resulted in some calculated doses roughly an order of magnitude above the current 2.20 x 10 8 rad equipment qualification test region. 8 refs., 23 figs., 12 tabs

Interactions of severe accident research and regulatory positions (ISARRP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sehgal, B.R.

2001-12-01

in assessment of plant safety. This work package was also designed to distinguish the differences between the attitudes and approaches followed by the various regulatory organisations in Europe, Eastern Europe, USA and Japan. Work Package 5: Relevance of example PSA results to SA research. The objective of their work package was to employ the results of some recent PSAs (preferably for a PWR and a BWR) and relate their findings to the results obtained in SA research, and to the effectiveness of the SAM measures already taken or contemplated. Work Package 6: The state of resolution of the SA issues with respect to the needs. The objective of this work package is to have another look at the state of the resolution of the severe accident issues which have been identified over the years, and relate that to what the needs of the regulatory organizations are in terms of their functions. Work Package 7: Regulatory use of the results of severe accident research. The objective is to identify the results of the SA research which the regulatory organizations, over the years, have used in either defining specific regulatory actions or in not taking specific actions. Work Package 8: Remaining issues and concerns. The objective of the work here is to review the work in the previous work package and identify what are the remaining unresolved safety issues and concerns for which sufficient results of the SA research are not available. Work Package 9: Recommendations on future directions of severe accident research. The purpose of this work package is to provide recommendations to E.U. (and to the readers) by the authors of this report on the directions that should be followed, in the future for the conduct of severe accident research. These recommendations are in essence the conclusions of this study

Interactions of severe accident research and regulatory positions (ISARRP)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sehgal, B.R. (comp.) [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Nuclear Power Safety

2001-12-01

in assessment of plant safety. This work package was also designed to distinguish the differences between the attitudes and approaches followed by the various regulatory organisations in Europe, Eastern Europe, USA and Japan. Work Package 5: Relevance of example PSA results to SA research. The objective of their work package was to employ the results of some recent PSAs (preferably for a PWR and a BWR) and relate their findings to the results obtained in SA research, and to the effectiveness of the SAM measures already taken or contemplated. Work Package 6: The state of resolution of the SA issues with respect to the needs. The objective of this work package is to have another look at the state of the resolution of the severe accident issues which have been identified over the years, and relate that to what the needs of the regulatory organizations are in terms of their functions. Work Package 7: Regulatory use of the results of severe accident research. The objective is to identify the results of the SA research which the regulatory organizations, over the years, have used in either defining specific regulatory actions or in not taking specific actions. Work Package 8: Remaining issues and concerns. The objective of the work here is to review the work in the previous work package and identify what are the remaining unresolved safety issues and concerns for which sufficient results of the SA research are not available. Work Package 9: Recommendations on future directions of severe accident research. The purpose of this work package is to provide recommendations to E.U. (and to the readers) by the authors of this report on the directions that should be followed, in the future for the conduct of severe accident research. These recommendations are in essence the conclusions of this study.

The Influence of atmospheric conditions to probabilistic calculation of impact of radiology accident on PWR 1000 MWe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pande Made Udiyani; Sri Kuntjoro

2015-01-01

The calculation of the radiological impact of the fission products releases due to potential accidents that may occur in the PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) is required in a probabilistic. The atmospheric conditions greatly contribute to the dispersion of radionuclides in the environment, so that in this study will be analyzed the influence of atmospheric conditions on probabilistic calculation of the reactor accidents consequences. The objective of this study is to conduct an analysis of the influence of atmospheric conditions based on meteorological input data models on the radiological consequences of PWR 1000 MWe accidents. Simulations using PC-Cosyma code with probabilistic calculations mode, the meteorological data input executed cyclic and stratified, the meteorological input data are executed in the cyclic and stratified, and simulated in Muria Peninsula and Serang Coastal. Meteorological data were taken every hour for the duration of the year. The result showed that the cumulative frequency for the same input models for Serang coastal is higher than the Muria Peninsula. For the same site, cumulative frequency on cyclic input models is higher than stratified models. The cyclic models provide flexibility in determining the level of accuracy of calculations and do not require reference data compared to stratified models. The use of cyclic and stratified models involving large amounts of data and calculation repetition will improve the accuracy of statistical calculation values. (author)

Containment response to a severe accident (TMLB sequence) with and without mitigation strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Passalacqua, R.

2004-01-01

A loss of SG feed-water (TMLB sequence) for a prototypic PWR 900 MWe with a multi-compartment configuration (with 11 and 16 cells nodalization) has been calculated by the author using the ASTEC code in the frame of the EVITA project (5th Framework Programme, FWP). A variety of hypothesis (e.g. activation of sprays and hydrogen recombiners) and possible consequences of these assumptions (cavity flooding, hydrogen combustion, etc.) have been made in order to evaluate the global reactor containment building response (pressure, aerosol/FP concentration, etc.). The need to dispose of severe accident management guidelines (SAMGs) is increasing. These guidelines are meant for nuclear plants' operators in order to allow them to apply mitigation strategies all along a severe accident, which, only in its initial phase, may last several days. The purpose of this paper is to outline the influence on the containment load of most common accident occurrences and operators actions, which is essential in establishing SAMGs. ASTEC (Accident Source Term Evaluation Code) is a computer code for the evaluation of the consequences of a postulated nuclear plant severe accident sequence. ASTEC is a computer tool currently under joint development by the Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN), France, and Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen-und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS), Germany. The aim of the development is to create a fast running integral code package, reliable in all simulations of a severe accident, to be used for level-2 PSA analysis. It must be said that several recent developments have significantly improved the best-estimate models of ASTEC and a new version (ASTEC V1.0) has been released mid-2002. Nevertheless, the somehow obsolete ASTECv0.3 version here used, has given results very useful for the estimation of the global risk of a nuclear plant. Moreover, under the current 6th FWP (Sustainable Integration of EU Research on Severe Accident Phenomenology and Management), the

Porosity effects during a severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cazares R, R. I.; Espinosa P, G.; Vazquez R, A.

2015-09-01

The aim of this work is to study the behaviour of porosity effects on the temporal evolution of the distributions of hydrogen concentration and temperature profiles in a fuel assembly where a stream of steam is flowing. The analysis considers the fuel element without mitigation effects. The mass transfer phenomenon considers that the hydrogen generated diffuses in the steam by convection and diffusion. Oxidation of the cladding, rods and other components in the core constructed in zirconium base alloy by steam is a critical issue in LWR accident producing severe core damage. The oxygen consumed by the zirconium is supplied by the up flow of steam from the water pool below the uncovered core, supplemented in the case of PWR by gas recirculation from the cooler outer regions of the core to hotter zones. Fuel rod cladding oxidation is then one of the key phenomena influencing the core behavior under high-temperature accident conditions. The chemical reaction of oxidation is highly exothermic, which determines the hydrogen rate generation and the cladding brittleness and degradation. The heat transfer process in the fuel assembly is considered with a reduced order model. The Boussinesq approximation was applied in the momentum equations for multicomponent flow analysis that considers natural convection due to buoyancy forces, which is related with thermal and hydrogen concentration effects. The numerical simulation was carried out in an averaging channel that represents a core reactor with the fuel rod with its gap and cladding and cooling steam of a BWR. (Author)

Porosity effects during a severe accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cazares R, R. I. [Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa, Posgrado en Energia y Medio Ambiente, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, 09340 Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico); Espinosa P, G.; Vazquez R, A., E-mail: ricardo-cazares@hotmail.com [Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa, Area de Ingenieria en Recursos Energeticos, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, 09340 Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico)

2015-09-15

The aim of this work is to study the behaviour of porosity effects on the temporal evolution of the distributions of hydrogen concentration and temperature profiles in a fuel assembly where a stream of steam is flowing. The analysis considers the fuel element without mitigation effects. The mass transfer phenomenon considers that the hydrogen generated diffuses in the steam by convection and diffusion. Oxidation of the cladding, rods and other components in the core constructed in zirconium base alloy by steam is a critical issue in LWR accident producing severe core damage. The oxygen consumed by the zirconium is supplied by the up flow of steam from the water pool below the uncovered core, supplemented in the case of PWR by gas recirculation from the cooler outer regions of the core to hotter zones. Fuel rod cladding oxidation is then one of the key phenomena influencing the core behavior under high-temperature accident conditions. The chemical reaction of oxidation is highly exothermic, which determines the hydrogen rate generation and the cladding brittleness and degradation. The heat transfer process in the fuel assembly is considered with a reduced order model. The Boussinesq approximation was applied in the momentum equations for multicomponent flow analysis that considers natural convection due to buoyancy forces, which is related with thermal and hydrogen concentration effects. The numerical simulation was carried out in an averaging channel that represents a core reactor with the fuel rod with its gap and cladding and cooling steam of a BWR. (Author)

Pilot program: NRC severe reactor accident incident response training manual: Severe reactor accident overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKenna, T.J.; Martin, J.A.; Miller, C.W.; Hively, L.M.; Sharpe, R.W.; Giitter, J.G.; Watkins, R.M.

1987-02-01

This pilot training manual has been written to fill the need for a general text on NRC response to reactor accidents. The manual is intended to be the foundation for a course for all NRC response personnel. Severe Reactor Accident Overview is the second in a series of volumes that collectively summarize the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) emergency response during severe power reactor accidents and provide necessary background information. This volume describes elementary perspectives on severe accidents and accident assesment. Each volume serves, respectively, as the text for a course of instruction in a series of courses. Each volume is accompanied by an appendix of slides that can be used to present this material. The slides are called out in the text

Severe Accident Research Program plan update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-12-01

In August 1989, the staff published NUREG-1365, ''Revised Severe Accident Research Program Plan.'' Since 1989, significant progress has been made in severe accident research to warrant an update to NUREG-1365. The staff has prepared this SARP Plan Update to: (1) Identify those issues that have been closed or are near completion, (2) Describe the progress in our understanding of important severe accident phenomena, (3) Define the long-term research that is directed at improving our understanding of severe accident phenomena and developing improved methods for assessing core melt progression, direct containment heating, and fuel-coolant interactions, and (4) Reflect the growing emphasis in two additional areas--advanced light water reactors, and support for the assessment of criteria for containment performance during severe accidents. The report describes recent major accomplishments in understanding the underlying phenomena that can occur during a severe accident. These include Mark I liner failure, severe accident scaling methodology, source term issues, core-concrete interactions, hydrogen transport and combustion, TMI-2 Vessel Investigation Project, and direct containment heating. The report also describes the major planned activities under the SARP over the next several years. These activities will focus on two phenomenological issues (core melt progression, and fuel-coolant interactions and debris coolability) that have significant uncertainties that impact our understanding and ability to predict severe accident phenomena and their effect on containment performance SARP will also focus on severe accident code development, assessment and validation. As the staff completes the research on severe accident issues that relate to current generation reactors, continued research will focus on efforts to independently evaluate the capability of new advanced light water reactor designs to withstand severe accidents

Post-test investigation result on the WWER-1000 fuel tested under severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goryachev, A.; Shtuckert, Yu.; Zwir, E.; Stupina, L.

1996-01-01

The model bundle of WWER-type were tested under SFD condition in the out-of-pile CORA installation. The objective of the test was to provide an information on the WWER-type fuel bundles behaviour under severe fuel damage accident conditions. Also it was assumed to compare the WWER-type bundle damage mechanisms with these experienced in the PWR-type bundle tests with aim to confirm a possibility to use the various code systems, worked our for PWR as applied to WWER. In order to ensure the possibility of the comparison of the calculated core degradation parameters with the real state of the tested bundle, some parameters have been measured on the bundle cross-sections under examination. Quantitative parameters of the bundle degradation have been evaluated by digital image processing of the bundle cross-sections. The obtained results are shown together with corresponding results obtained by the other participants of this investigation. (author). 3 refs, 13 figs

Modeling in fast dynamics of accidents in the primary circuit of PWR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robbe, M.F.

2003-12-01

Two kinds of accidents, liable to occur in the primary circuit of a Pressurized Water Reactor and involving fast dynamic phenomena, are analyzed. The Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA) is the accident used to define the current PWR. It consists in a large-size break located in a pipe of the primary circuit. A blowdown wave propagates through the circuit. The pressure differences between the different zones of the reactor induce high stresses in the structures of the lower head and may degrade the reactor core. The primary circuit starts emptying from the break opening. Pressure decreases very quickly, involving a large steaming. Two thermal-hydraulic simulations of the blowdown phase of a LOCA are computed with the Europlexus code. The primary circuit is represented by a pipe-model including the hydraulic peculiarities of the circuit. The main differences between both computations concern the kind of reactor, the break location and model, and the initialization of the accidental operation. Steam explosion is a hypothetical severe accident liable to happen after a core melting. The molten part of the core (called corium) falls in the lower part of the reactor. The interaction between the hot corium and the cold water remaining at the bottom of the vessel induces a massive and violent vaporization of water, similar to an explosive phenomenon. A shock wave propagates in the vessel. what can damage seriously the neighbouring structures or drill the vessel. This work presents a synthesis of in-vessel parametrical studies carried out with the Europlexus code, the linkage of the thermal-hydraulic code Mc3d dedicated to the pre-mixing phase with the Europlexus code dealing with the explosion, and finally a benchmark between the Cigalon and Europlexus codes relative to the Vulcano mock-up. (author)

Severe accident analysis methodology in support of accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boesmans, B.; Auglaire, M.; Snoeck, J.

1997-01-01

The author addresses the implementation at BELGATOM of a generic severe accident analysis methodology, which is intended to support strategic decisions and to provide quantitative information in support of severe accident management. The analysis methodology is based on a combination of severe accident code calculations, generic phenomenological information (experimental evidence from various test facilities regarding issues beyond present code capabilities) and detailed plant-specific technical information

Approximation for maximum pressure calculation in containment of PWR reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, A.L. de

1989-01-01

A correlation was developed to estimate the maximum pressure of dry containment of PWR following a Loss-of-Coolant Accident - LOCA. The expression proposed is a function of the total energy released to the containment by the primary circuit, of the free volume of the containment building and of the total surface are of the heat-conducting structures. The results show good agreement with those present in Final Safety Analysis Report - FSAR of several PWR's plants. The errors are in the order of ± 12%. (author) [pt

Aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berthion, Y.; Lhiaubet, G.; Gauvain, J.

1984-07-01

Thermohydraulic behavior inside a PWR containment during severe accident depends on decay heat transferred to the sump water by aerosol gravitational settling and deposition. Conversely, aerosol behavior depends on thermal hydraulic conditions, especially atmosphere moisture for soluble aerosol GsI, and CsOH. Therefore, a small iterative procedure between thermo-hydraulic and aerosol calculations has been performed in order to evaluate the importance of this coupling between the two phenomena. In this paper, it is shown that with this procedure and using our codes JERICHO, RICOCHET and AEROSOLS/B1, the steam condensation on aerosols is an important phenomenon for a correct estimation of the attenuation factor of the suspended mass of aerosols in the airborne of the containment. Then, we have a more realistic assessment of the source term released by the containment

Joint research project WASA-BOSS: Further development and application of severe accident codes. Assessment and optimization of accident management measures. Project B: Accident analyses for pressurized water reactors with the application of the ATHLET-CD code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jobst, Matthias; Kliem, Soeren; Kozmenkov, Yaroslav; Wilhelm, Polina

2017-02-01

Within the framework of the project an ATHLET-CD input deck for a generic German PWR of type KONVOI has been created. This input deck was applied to the simulation of severe accidents from the accident categories station blackout (SBO) and small-break loss-of-coolant accidents (SBLOCA). The complete accident transient from initial event at full power until the damage of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is covered and all relevant severe accident phenomena are modelled: start of core heat up, fission product release, melting of fuel and absorber material, oxidation and release of hydrogen, relocation of molten material inside the core, relocation to the lower plenum, damage and failure of the RPV. The model has been applied to the analysis of preventive and mitigative accident management measures for SBO and SBLOCA transients. Therefore, the measures primary side depressurization (PSD), injection to the primary circuit by mobile pumps and for SBLOCA the delayed injection by the cold leg hydro-accumulators have been investigated and the assumptions and start criteria of these measures have been varied. The time evolutions of the transients and time margins for the initiation of additional measures have been assessed. An uncertainty and sensitivity study has been performed for the early phase of one SBO scenario with PSD (until the start of core melt). In addition to that, a code -to-code comparison between ATHLET-CD and the severe accident code MELCOR has been carried out.

Cernavoda CANDU severe accident evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negut, G.; Marin, A.

1997-01-01

The papers present the activities dedicated to Romania Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant first CANDU Unit severe accident evaluation. This activity is part of more general PSA assessment activities. CANDU specific safety features are calandria moderator and calandria vault water capabilities to remove the residual heat in the case of severe accidents, when the conventional heat sinks are no more available. Severe accidents evaluation, that is a deterministic thermal hydraulic analysis, assesses the accidents progression and gives the milestones when important events take place. This kind of assessment is important to evaluate to recovery time for the reactor operators that can lead to the accident mitigation. The Cernavoda CANDU unit is modeled for the of all heat sinks accident and results compared with the AECL CANDU 600 assessment. (orig.)

Severe accidents in nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohai, Dumitru; Dumitrescu, Iulia; Tunaru, Mariana

2004-01-01

The likelihood of accidents leading to core meltdown in nuclear reactors is low. The consequences of such an event are but so severe that developing and implementing of adequate measures for preventing or diminishing the consequences of such events are of paramount importance. The analysis of major accidents requires sophisticated computation codes but necessary are also relevant experiments for checking the accuracy of the predictions and capability of these codes. In this paper an overview of the severe accidents worldwide with definitions, computation codes and relating experiments is presented. The experimental research activity of severe accidents was conducted in INR Pitesti since 2003, when the Institute jointed the SARNET Excellence Network. The INR activity within SARNET consists in studying scenarios of severe accidents by means of ASTEC and RELAP/SCDAP codes and conducting bench-scale experiments

Severe accident training simulator APROS SA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raiko, Eerikki; Salminen, Kai; Lundstroem, Petra; Harti, Mika; Routamo, Tomi

2003-01-01

APROS SA is a severe accident training simulator based on the APROS simulation environment. APROS SA has been developed in Fortum Nuclear Services Ltd to serve as a training tool for the personnel of the Loviisa NPP. Training with APROS SA gives the personnel a deeper understanding of the severe accident phenomena and thus it is an important part of the implementation of the severe accident management strategy. APROS SA consists of two parts, a comprehensive Loviisa plant model and an external severe accident model. The external model is an extension to the Loviisa plant model, which allows the simulation to proceed into the severe accident phase. The severe accident model has three submodels: the core melting and relocation model, corium pool model and fission product model. In addition to these, a new thermal-hydraulic solver is introduced to the core region of the Loviisa plant model to replace the more limited APROS thermal-hydraulic solver. The full APROS SA training simulator has a graphical user interface with visualizations of both severe accident management panels at the operator room and the important physical phenomena during the accident. This paper describes the background of the APROS SA training simulator, the severe accident submodels and the graphical user interface. A short description how APROS SA will be used as a training tool at the Loviisa NPP is also given

Monitoring severe accidents using AI techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No, Young Gyu; Ahn, Kwang Il [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Ju Hyun; Na, Man Gyun [Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Lim, Dong Hyuk [Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejon (Korea, Republic of)

2012-05-15

After the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, there has been increasing concern regarding severe accidents in nuclear facilities. Severe accident scenarios are difficult for operators to monitor and identify. Therefore, accurate prediction of a severe accident is important in order to manage it appropriately in the unfavorable conditions. In this study, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, such as support vector classification (SVC), probabilistic neural network (PNN), group method of data handling (GMDH), and fuzzy neural network (FNN), were used to monitor the major transient scenarios of a severe accident caused by three different initiating events, the hot-leg loss of coolant accident (LOCA), the cold-leg LOCA, and the steam generator tube rupture in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The SVC and PNN models were used for the event classification. The GMDH and FNN models were employed to accurately predict the important timing representing severe accident scenarios. In addition, in order to verify the proposed algorithm, data from a number of numerical simulations were required in order to train the AI techniques due to the shortage of real LOCA data. The data was acquired by performing simulations using the MAAP4 code. The prediction accuracy of the three types of initiating events was sufficiently high to predict severe accident scenarios. Therefore, the AI techniques can be applied successfully in the identification and monitoring of severe accident scenarios in real PWRs.

Monitoring severe accidents using AI techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

No, Young Gyu; Ahn, Kwang Il; Kim, Ju Hyun; Na, Man Gyun; Lim, Dong Hyuk

2012-01-01

After the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, there has been increasing concern regarding severe accidents in nuclear facilities. Severe accident scenarios are difficult for operators to monitor and identify. Therefore, accurate prediction of a severe accident is important in order to manage it appropriately in the unfavorable conditions. In this study, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, such as support vector classification (SVC), probabilistic neural network (PNN), group method of data handling (GMDH), and fuzzy neural network (FNN), were used to monitor the major transient scenarios of a severe accident caused by three different initiating events, the hot-leg loss of coolant accident (LOCA), the cold-leg LOCA, and the steam generator tube rupture in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The SVC and PNN models were used for the event classification. The GMDH and FNN models were employed to accurately predict the important timing representing severe accident scenarios. In addition, in order to verify the proposed algorithm, data from a number of numerical simulations were required in order to train the AI techniques due to the shortage of real LOCA data. The data was acquired by performing simulations using the MAAP4 code. The prediction accuracy of the three types of initiating events was sufficiently high to predict severe accident scenarios. Therefore, the AI techniques can be applied successfully in the identification and monitoring of severe accident scenarios in real PWRs.

The TE coupled RELAP5/PANTHER/COBRA code package and methodology for integrated PWR accident analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneidesch, Christophe R.; Zhang, Jinzhao; Ammirabile, Luca; Dalleur, Jean-Paul

2006-01-01

At Tractebel Engineering (TE), a dynamic coupling has been developed between the best estimate thermal hydraulics system code RELAP5 and the 3-dimensional neutronics code PANTHER via the transient analysis code linkage program TALINK. An interface between PANTHER and the subchannel core thermal-hydraulic analysis code COBRA 3C has been established for on-line calculation of the Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR). In addition to the standard RELAP5-PANTHER coupling, the fully dynamic coupling of the RELAP5/PANTHER/COBRA3C-TE code package can be activated for evaluation purposes in which the PANTHER close-channel thermal-hydraulics module is replaced by the COBRA3C-TE with cross flow modelling and extended T-H flow conditions capabilities. The qualification of the RELAP5-PANTHER coupling demonstrated the robustness achieved by the combined 3-D neutron kinetics/system T-H code package for transient simulations. The coupled TE code package has been approved by the Belgian Safety Authorities and is used at TE for analyzing asymmetric PWR accidents with strong core-system interactions. In particular, the TE coupled code package was first used to develop a main steam line break in hot shutdown conditions (SLBHZP) accident analysis methodology based on the TE deterministic bounding approach. This methodology has been reviewed and accepted by the Belgian Safety Authorities for specific applications. Those specific applications are related to the power up-rate and steam generator replacement project of the Doel 2 plant or to the Tihange-3 SLB accident re-analysis. A coupled feedwater line break (FLB) accident analysis methodology is currently being reviewed for application approval. The results of coupled thermal-hydraulic and neutronic analysis of SLB and FLB show that there exist important margins in the traditional final safety analysis report (FSAR) accident analysis. Those margins can be used to increase the operational flexibility of the plants. Moreover, the

The TE coupled RELAP5/PANTHER/COBRA code package and methodology for integrated PWR accident analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneidesch, Christophe R.; Zhang, Jinzhao; Ammirabile, Luca; Dalleur, Jean-Paul [Suez-Tractebel Engineering, Avenue Ariane 7, B-1200 Brussels (Belgium)

2006-07-01

At Tractebel Engineering (TE), a dynamic coupling has been developed between the best estimate thermal hydraulics system code RELAP5 and the 3-dimensional neutronics code PANTHER via the transient analysis code linkage program TALINK. An interface between PANTHER and the subchannel core thermal-hydraulic analysis code COBRA 3C has been established for on-line calculation of the Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR). In addition to the standard RELAP5-PANTHER coupling, the fully dynamic coupling of the RELAP5/PANTHER/COBRA3C-TE code package can be activated for evaluation purposes in which the PANTHER close-channel thermal-hydraulics module is replaced by the COBRA3C-TE with cross flow modelling and extended T-H flow conditions capabilities. The qualification of the RELAP5-PANTHER coupling demonstrated the robustness achieved by the combined 3-D neutron kinetics/system T-H code package for transient simulations. The coupled TE code package has been approved by the Belgian Safety Authorities and is used at TE for analyzing asymmetric PWR accidents with strong core-system interactions. In particular, the TE coupled code package was first used to develop a main steam line break in hot shutdown conditions (SLBHZP) accident analysis methodology based on the TE deterministic bounding approach. This methodology has been reviewed and accepted by the Belgian Safety Authorities for specific applications. Those specific applications are related to the power up-rate and steam generator replacement project of the Doel 2 plant or to the Tihange-3 SLB accident re-analysis. A coupled feedwater line break (FLB) accident analysis methodology is currently being reviewed for application approval. The results of coupled thermal-hydraulic and neutronic analysis of SLB and FLB show that there exist important margins in the traditional final safety analysis report (FSAR) accident analysis. Those margins can be used to increase the operational flexibility of the plants. Moreover, the

State of Level 2 analyses and severe accident management in Spanish nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otero, R.

1998-01-01

The state of the PSA/IPE studies in the Spanish NPPs is presented in this report, as well as the plans to implement the severe accident management strategy both in the Spanish BWRs and PWRs. First, the Spanish LWRs are introduced, and the scope of the IPE analyses required by the Spanish Regulatory Commission (CSN) is given. The general overview is completed with the current degree of development for the IPE studies in each plant. In the second part the methods and tools are shown which are used by the Spanish plants to develop their Level 2 analysis. The different strategies for severe accident management adopted by the BWPs and PWRs in Spain are also outlined. The sources and implementation of the Severe Accident Guidelines (SAG) are described. More detail is given in the following chapters to the containment analysis of Trillo (PWR, KWU design) and Cofrentes (BWR/6, GE design) NPPs, whose development is being carried out by IBERDROLA. The analysis which has been performed up to date for Trillo is limited to the Plant Damage State (PDS) definition. However, the main phenomena challenging its containment performance have been identified, and they are summarized here. The Level 2 analysis for Cofrentes is comparatively more developed. The main phenomena and the key equipment affecting its containment behaviour are presented. Finally the conclusions of this report are elaborated. (author)

Severe accidents at nuclear power plants. Their risk assessment and accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abe, Kiyoharu.

1995-05-01

This document is to explain the severe accident issues. Severe Accidents are defined as accidents which are far beyond the design basis and result in severe damage of the core. Accidents at Three Mild Island in USA and at Chernobyl in former Soviet Union are examples of severe accidents. The causes and progressions of the accidents as well as the actions taken are described. Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) is a method to estimate the risk of severe accidents at nuclear reactors. The methodology for PSA is briefly described and current status on its application to safety related issues is introduced. The acceptability of the risks which inherently accompany every technology is then discussed. Finally, provision of accident management in Japan is introduced, including the description of accident management measures proposed for BWRs and PWRs. (author)

Uncertainties and severe-accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, W.E.

1991-01-01

Severe-accident management can be defined as the use of existing and or alternative resources, systems, and actions to prevent or mitigate a core-melt accident. Together with risk management (e.g., changes in plant operation and/or addition of equipment) and emergency planning (off-site actions), accident management provides an extension of the defense-indepth safety philosophy for severe accidents. A significant number of probabilistic safety assessments have been completed, which yield the principal plant vulnerabilities, and can be categorized as (a) dominant sequences with respect to core-melt frequency, (b) dominant sequences with respect to various risk measures, (c) dominant threats that challenge safety functions, and (d) dominant threats with respect to failure of safety systems. Severe-accident management strategies can be generically classified as (a) use of alternative resources, (b) use of alternative equipment, and (c) use of alternative actions. For each sequence/threat and each combination of strategy, there may be several options available to the operator. Each strategy/option involves phenomenological and operational considerations regarding uncertainty. These include (a) uncertainty in key phenomena, (b) uncertainty in operator behavior, (c) uncertainty in system availability and behavior, and (d) uncertainty in information availability (i.e., instrumentation). This paper focuses on phenomenological uncertainties associated with severe-accident management strategies

Severe accidents: in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

A ''severe'' nuclear accident refers to a reactor accident that could exceed reactor design specifications to such a degree as to prevent cooling of the reactor's core by normal means. This report summarizes the work of a NEA Senior Group of Experts who have studied the potential response of existing light-water reactors to severe accidents and have found that current designs of reactors are far more capable of coping with severe accidents than design specifications would suggest. The report emphasises the specific knowledge and means that can be used for diagnosing a severe accident and for managing its progression in order to prevent or mitigate its consequences

PWR systems transient analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, M.F.; Peeler, G.B.; Abramson, P.B.

1985-01-01

Analysis of transients in pressurized water reactor (PWR) systems involves the assessment of the response of the total plant, including primary and secondary coolant systems, steam piping and turbine (possibly including the complete feedwater train), and various control and safety systems. Transient analysis is performed as part of the plant safety analysis to insure the adequacy of the reactor design and operating procedures and to verify the applicable plant emergency guidelines. Event sequences which must be examined are developed by considering possible failures or maloperations of plant components. These vary in severity (and calculational difficulty) from a series of normal operational transients, such as minor load changes, reactor trips, valve and pump malfunctions, up to the double-ended guillotine rupture of a primary reactor coolant system pipe known as a Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LBLOCA). The focus of this paper is the analysis of all those transients and accidents except loss of coolant accidents

In-vessel core degradation in LWR severe accidents: a state of the art report to CSNI january 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-11-01

This state of the art report on in-vessel core degradation has been produced at the request of CSNI Principal Working Group 2. The objective of the report is to present to CSNI member countries the status of research and related information on in-vessel degraded core behaviour in both Pressurised Water Reactors (PWR) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWR). Information on experiments, codes and comparisons of calculations with experiments up to january 1991 is summarised and reviewed. Integrated codes, which are wider in scope than just in-vessel degradation are covered as well as specialist, degraded core codes. Implications for PWR and BWR plant calculations are considered. Conclusions and recommendations for research, plant calculations and further CSNI activity in this area are the subject of the final chapter. A major conclusion of the report is that early phase core degradation is relatively well understood. However, codes need further development to bring them up to date with the experimental database, particularly to include low temperature liquefaction processes. These processes significantly affect early phase core degradation and their neglect could affect assessments of accident management actions (including recriticality in BWR severe accidents)

Containment severe accident thermohydraulic phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frid, W.

1991-08-01

This report describes and discusses the containment accident progression and the important severe accident containment thermohydraulic phenomena. The overall objective of the report is to provide a rather detailed presentation of the present status of phenomenological knowledge, including an account of relevant experimental investigations and to discuss, to some extent, the modelling approach used in the MAAP 3.0 computer code. The MAAP code has been used in Sweden as the main tool in the analysis of severe accidents. The dependence of the containment accident progression and containment phenomena on the initial conditions, which in turn are heavily dependent on the in-vessel accident progression and phenomena as well as associated uncertainties, is emphasized. The report is in three parts dealing with: * Swedish reactor containments, the severe accident mitigation programme in Sweden and containment accident progression in Swedish PWRs and BWRs as predicted by the MAAP 3.0 code. * Key non-energetic ex-vessel phenomena (melt fragmentation in water, melt quenching and coolability, core-concrete interaction and high temperature in containment). * Early containment threats due to energetic events (hydrogen combustion, high pressure melt ejection and direct containment heating, and ex-vessel steam explosions). The report concludes that our understanding of the containment severe accident progression and phenomena has improved very significantly over the parts ten years and, thereby, our ability to assess containment threats, to quantify uncertainties, and to interpret the results of experiments and computer code calculations have also increased. (au)

Estimating probable flaw distributions in PWR steam generator tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorman, J.A.; Turner, A.P.L.

1997-01-01

This paper describes methods for estimating the number and size distributions of flaws of various types in PWR steam generator tubes. These estimates are needed when calculating the probable primary to secondary leakage through steam generator tubes under postulated accidents such as severe core accidents and steam line breaks. The paper describes methods for two types of predictions: (1) the numbers of tubes with detectable flaws of various types as a function of time, and (2) the distributions in size of these flaws. Results are provided for hypothetical severely affected, moderately affected and lightly affected units. Discussion is provided regarding uncertainties and assumptions in the data and analyses

SAMEX: A severe accident management support expert

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Soo-Yong; Ahn, Kwang-Il

2010-01-01

A decision support system for use in a severe accident management following an incident at a nuclear power plant is being developed which is aided by a severe accident risk database module and a severe accident management simulation module. The severe accident management support expert (SAMEX) system can provide the various types of diagnostic and predictive assistance based on the real-time plant specific safety parameters. It consists of four major modules as sub-systems: (a) severe accident risk data base module (SARDB), (b) risk-informed severe accident risk data base management module (RI-SARD), (c) severe accident management simulation module (SAMS), and (d) on-line severe accident management guidance module (on-line SAMG). The modules are integrated into a code package that executes within a WINDOWS XP operating environment, using extensive user friendly graphics control. In Korea, the integrated approach of the decision support system is being carried out under the nuclear R and D program planned by the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST). An objective of the project is to develop the support system which can show a theoretical possibility. If the system is feasible, the project team will recommend the radiation protection technical support center of a national regulatory body to implement a plant specific system, which is applicable to a real accident, for the purpose of immediate and various diagnosis based on the given plant status information and of prediction of an expected accident progression under a severe accident situation.

ALWR severe accident issue resolution in support of updated emergency planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Additon, Stephen L.; Leaver, David E.; Sorrell, Steven W.; Theofanous, Theo G.

2004-01-01

. The severe accident risk characteristics of the ALWRs reflect an emphasis on accident prevention, which is quantified in the URD as a maximum permissible core damage frequency of less than one occurrence in 100,000 reactor years. For severe accident sequences of a frequency lower than this criterion, the URD safety policy requires provisions to arrest, mitigate, and contain the accident and, accordingly, opportunities to terminate a core melt sequence are provided whenever practical at every stage of core degradation. This includes design provisions to maximize the chances of success for reflooding the reactor by depressurizing the primary system, provisions to ensure retention of core debris in the reactor vessel by cooling the outside of the reactor vessel, and provisions for a more favorable geometry for core debris cooling in the reactor cavity in order to slow and then terminate a core-concrete interaction. For all risk-significant branches of the containment event tree, it must be demonstrated that early containment failure is avoided. This paper addresses the severe accident issue resolution tasks which were undertaken by the U.S. ALWR Program and ARSAP to ensure that the capability of passive ALWRs to arrest, mitigate and contain severe accidents would be sufficient to justify a significant change in the appropriate emergency planning requirements. The next section summarizes all of the issue resolution activities that will culminate in the issuance by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of a Final Safety Evaluation Report for the passive ALWR URD, scheduled for January 1994. The following section addresses more recent activities undertaken by ARSAP to enhance the issue resolution basis and to provide additional confirmatory evidence supporting the URD criteria. Included are the ongoing activities to establish a technical case, if possible, for in-vessel retention for the passive PWR and for the accommodation of ex-vessel steam explosions in the

Dispositions taken in France to limit gaseous releases from PWR power plants in abnormal operating conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collinet, J.; Guieu, S.; Mulcey, P.

1989-12-01

The implementation of France's major nuclear programme - 56 PWR units in service or under construction - has gone hand in hand with the development of an original philosophy in the field of nuclear safety. From an initial core of deterministic safety philosophy current in the seventies, which has been wholly retained and, in some instances, refined, a range of complements has been made to include consideration of a number of additional situations based on a probabilistic approach. This has resulted in a better coherence for safety and a reduction of the severe accident probability. Furthermore, the establishment of emergency plans has enabled the Safety Authorities and the utility to adopt a coherent and logical approach to severe accidents, with the aim of better achieving defence in depth. This has resulted in the provision of certain additional measures intended to further reduce the consequences of severe accidents. In a accordance with the safety philosophy, adopted in France for nuclear PWR power stations, filtration systems have been specified and installed to limit the radiological consequences of consecutive gaseous emissions, on the one hand, in accidents taken into account in the design and, on the other hand, in accidents liable to jeopardize the integrity of the containment

EMERALD, Radiation Release and Dose after PWR Accident for Design Analysis and Operation Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunot, W.K.; Fray, R.R.; Gillespie, S.G.

1988-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: The EMERALD program is designed for the calculation of radiation releases and exposures resulting from abnormal operation of a large pressurized water reactor (PWR). The approach used in EMERALD is similar to an analog simulation of a real system. Each component or volume in the plant which contains a radioactive material is represented by a subroutine which keeps track of the production, transfer, decay and absorption of radioactivity in that volume. During the course of the analysis of an accident, activity is transferred from subroutine to subroutine in the program as it would be transferred from place to place in the plant. For example, in the calculation of the doses resulting from a loss-of-coolant accident the program first calculates the activity built up in the fuel before the accident, then releases some of this activity to the containment volume. Some of this activity is then released to the atmosphere. The rates of transfer, leakage, production, cleanup, decay, and release are read in as input to the program. Subroutines are also included which calculate the on-site and off-site radiation exposures at various distances for individual isotopes and sums of isotopes. The program contains a library of physical data for the twenty-five isotopes of most interest in licensing calculations, and other isotopes can be added or substituted. Because of the flexible nature of the simulation approach, the EMERALD program can be used for most calculations involving the production and release of radioactive materials during abnormal operation of a PWR. These include design, operational, and licensing studies. 2 - Method of solution - Explicit solutions of first-order linear differential equations are included. In addition, a subroutine is provided which solves a set of simultaneous linear algebraic equations. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem - Maxima of: 25 isotopes, 7 time periods, 15 volumes or components, 10

NPP Krsko Severe Accident Management Guidelines Implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basic, I.; Krajnc, B.; Bilic-Zabric, T.; Spiler, J.

2002-01-01

Severe Accident Management is a framework to identify and implement the Emergency Response Capabilities that can be used to prevent or mitigate severe accidents and their consequences. The USA NRC has indicated that the development of a licensee plant specific accident management program will be required in order to close out the severe accident regulatory issue (Ref. SECY-88-147). Generic Letter 88-20 ties the Accident management Program to IPE for each plant. The SECY-89-012 defines those actions taken during the course of an accident by the plant operating and technical staff to: 1) prevent core damage, 2) terminate the progress of core damage if it begins and retain the core within the reactor vessel, 3) maintain containment integrity as long as possible, and 4) minimize offsite releases. The subject of this paper is to document the severe accident management activities, which resulted in a plant specific Severe Accident Management Guidelines implementation. They have been developed based on the Krsko IPE (Individual Plant Examination) insights, Generic WOG SAMGs (Westinghouse Owners Group Severe Accident Management Guidances) and plant specific documents developed within this effort. Among the required plant specific actions the following are the most important ones: Identification and documentation of those Krsko plant specific severe accident management features (which also resulted from the IPE investigations). The development of the Krsko plant specific background documents (Severe Accident Plant Specific Strategies and SAMG Setpoint Calculation). Also, paper discusses effort done in the areas of NPP Krsko SAMG review (internal and external ), validation on Krsko Full Scope Simulator (Severe Accident sequences are simulated by MAAP4 in real time) and world 1st IAEA Review of Accident Management Programmes (RAMP). (author)

Monitoring Severe Accidents Using AI Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

No, Young Gyu; Kim, Ju Hyun; Na, Man Gyun; Ahn, Kwang Il

2011-01-01

It is very difficult for nuclear power plant operators to monitor and identify the major severe accident scenarios following an initiating event by staring at temporal trends of important parameters. The objective of this study is to develop and verify the monitoring for severe accidents using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as support vector classification (SVC), probabilistic neural network (PNN), group method of data handling (GMDH) and fuzzy neural network (FNN). The SVC and PNN are used for event classification among the severe accidents. Also, GMDH and FNN are used to monitor for severe accidents. The inputs to AI techniques are initial time-integrated values obtained by integrating measurement signals during a short time interval after reactor scram. In this study, 3 types of initiating events such as the hot-leg LOCA, the cold-leg LOCA and SGTR are considered and it is verified how well the proposed scenario identification algorithm using the GMDH and FNN models identifies the timings when the reactor core will be uncovered, when CET will exceed 1200 .deg. F and when the reactor vessel will fail. In cases that an initiating event develops into a severe accident, the proposed algorithm showed accurate classification of initiating events. Also, it well predicted timings for important occurrences during severe accident progression scenarios, which is very helpful for operators to perform severe accident management

Outcomes from the EURATOM–ROSATOM ERCOSAM SAMARA projects on containment thermal-hydraulics for severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paladino, Domenico; Andreani, Michele; Guentay, Salih; Mignot, Guillaume; Kapulla, Ralf; Paranjape, Sidharth; Sharabi, Medhat; Kisselev, Arkadi; Yudina, Tatiana; Filippov, Aleksandr; Kamnev, Mikhail; Khizbullin, Akhmir; Tyurikov, Oleg; Liang, Zhe; Abdo, Daniele; Brinster, Jérôme; Dabbene, Frédéric; Kelm, Stephan; Klauck, Michael; Götz, Lasse

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Hydrogen distribution in the containment of PWR was investigated for scenario leading to stratification. • The scenario was scaled from a generic PWR containment to four facilities. • Effect of spray, cooler and heat sources was investigated experimentally and with LP and CFD. • Code-to-code benchmarks aiming a scaling up the facilities to a large containment. - Abstract: ERCOSAM and SAMARA are the acronyms for two parallel projects co-financed respectively by EURATOM and ROSATOM during the period 2010–2014 with the general aim to advance the knowledge on the phenomenology associated with the hydrogen and steam spreading and stratification in the LWR containment during a postulated severe accident. The important peculiarity of the projects was in experimental and analytical investigating the impact of systems such as spray, cooler and heat sources (simulating thermal effect of PARs) on the distribution of gas mixture (e.g. hydrogen, steam, air). This paper presents the main outcomes of the ERCOSAM–SAMARA projects.

Outcomes from the EURATOM–ROSATOM ERCOSAM SAMARA projects on containment thermal-hydraulics for severe accident management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paladino, Domenico, E-mail: domenico.paladino@psi.ch [Paul Scherrer Institut (Switzerland); Andreani, Michele [Paul Scherrer Institut (Switzerland); Guentay, Salih [Innovative, Technology Development GmbH (Switzerland); Mignot, Guillaume; Kapulla, Ralf; Paranjape, Sidharth; Sharabi, Medhat [Paul Scherrer Institut (Switzerland); Kisselev, Arkadi; Yudina, Tatiana; Filippov, Aleksandr [Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 115191 (Russian Federation); Kamnev, Mikhail; Khizbullin, Akhmir; Tyurikov, Oleg [JSC “Afrikantov OKB Mechanical Engineering”, Nizhny Novgorod 603074 (Russian Federation); Liang, Zhe [CNL-2251 Speakman Drive, Mississauga, ON L5K 1B2 (Canada); Abdo, Daniele; Brinster, Jérôme; Dabbene, Frédéric [CEA, DEN, DM2S, STMF, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Kelm, Stephan [Forschungszentrum Juelich, 52425 Jülich (Germany); Klauck, Michael; Götz, Lasse [RWTH Aachen University (Germany); and others

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Hydrogen distribution in the containment of PWR was investigated for scenario leading to stratification. • The scenario was scaled from a generic PWR containment to four facilities. • Effect of spray, cooler and heat sources was investigated experimentally and with LP and CFD. • Code-to-code benchmarks aiming a scaling up the facilities to a large containment. - Abstract: ERCOSAM and SAMARA are the acronyms for two parallel projects co-financed respectively by EURATOM and ROSATOM during the period 2010–2014 with the general aim to advance the knowledge on the phenomenology associated with the hydrogen and steam spreading and stratification in the LWR containment during a postulated severe accident. The important peculiarity of the projects was in experimental and analytical investigating the impact of systems such as spray, cooler and heat sources (simulating thermal effect of PARs) on the distribution of gas mixture (e.g. hydrogen, steam, air). This paper presents the main outcomes of the ERCOSAM–SAMARA projects.

Analysis of a control rod ejection transient in a mox-fuelled PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenain, R.; Mathonniere, G.; Perrutel, J.P.; Schaeffer, H.; Stelletta, S.; Lam Hime, M.

1988-09-01

The decision to use mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in PWR's involved re-investigation of a certain number of accidents and notably control rod ejection transients. It has thus been shown that this accident would be no more severe than in the case of all-uranium cores, since the positive effects on the ejected rod worth would counterbalance the negative effects on the delayed neutron fraction. A new approach to the kinetics aspect of the calculation method for this accident is also presented, involving a 3-D kinetic calculation with only a few axial meshes

Severe accidents in Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valle Cepero, R.; Castillo Alvarez, J.; Ramon Fuente, J.

1996-01-01

For the assessment of the safety of nuclear power plants it is of great importance the analyses of severe accidents since they allow to estimate the possible failure models of the containment, and also permit knowing the magnitude and composition of the radioactive material that would be released to the environment in case of an accident upon population and the environment. This paper presents in general terms the basic principles for conducting the analysis of severe accidents, the fundamental sources in the generation of radionuclides and aerosols, the transportation and deposition processes, and also makes reference to de main codes used in the modulation of severe accidents. The final part of the paper contents information on how severe accidents are dialed with the regulatory point view in different countries

Analyses of conditions in a large, dry PWR containment during an TMLB' accident sequence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweet, D.W.; Roberts, G.J.

1994-01-01

The aim of the paper is to give an assessment of the conditions which would develop in the large, dry containment of a modern Westinghouse-type PWR during a severe accident where all safety systems are unavailable. The analysis is based principally on the results of calculations using the CONTAIN code, with a 4 cell model of the containment, for a station blackout (TMLB') scenario in which the vessel is assumed to fail at high pressure. In particular, the following are noted: (i) If much of the debris is in contact with water, so that decay heat can boil water directly, then the pressure rises steadily to reach the assumed containment failure point after 11/2 to 2 days. If most of the debris becomes isolated from water, for example, because of water is held up on the containment floors and in sumps and drains, the pressure rises too slowly to threaten the containment on this timescale. (ii) If a core-concrete interaction occurs, most of the associated fission product release takes place soon after relocation of molten fuel to the containment. The aerosols which transport these (and other non-gaseous fission products released earlier in the accident) in the containment agglomerate and settle. As a result, 0.1% or less of the aerosols remain airborne a day after the start of the accident. (iii) Hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which would accumulate in the containment are not expected to burn because the atmosphere would be inerted by steam. If, however, enough of the steam is condensed, for example, by recovering the containment sprays, a burn could occur but the resulting pressure spike is unlikely to threaten the containment unless a transition to detonation occurs. 6 refs., 6 tabs., 12 figs

Assessment of uncertainties in severe accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, W.E.; Apostolakis, G.; Catton, I.; Dhir, V.K.; Okrent, D.

1990-01-01

Recent progress on the development of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) as a tool for qualifying nuclear reactor safety and on research devoted to severe accident phenomena has made severe accident management an achievable goal. Severe accident management strategies may involve operational changes, modification and/or addition of hardware, and institutional changes. In order to achieve the goal of managing severe accidents, a method for assessment of strategies must be developed which integrates PRA methodology and our current knowledge concerning severe accident phenomena, including uncertainty. The research project presented in this paper is aimed at delineating uncertainties in severe accident progression and their impact on severe accident management strategies

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Grand Gulf, Unit 1: Evaluation of severe accident risks for plant operational state 5 during a refueling outage. Supporting MELCOR calculations, Volume 6, Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kmetyk, L.N.; Brown, T.D.

1995-03-01

To gain a better understanding of the risk significance of low power and shutdown modes of operation, the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research at the NRC established programs to investigate the likelihood and severity of postulated accidents that could occur during low power and shutdown (LP ampersand S) modes of operation at commercial nuclear power plants. To investigate the likelihood of severe core damage accidents during off power conditions, probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) were performed for two nuclear plants: Unit 1 of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, which is a BWR-6 Mark III boiling water reactor (BWR), and Unit 1 of the Surry Power Station, which is a three-loop, subatmospheric, pressurized water reactor (PWR). The analysis of the BWR was conducted at Sandia National Laboratories while the analysis of the PWR was performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This multi-volume report presents and discusses the results of the BWR analysis. The subject of this part presents the deterministic code calculations, performed with the MELCOR code, that were used to support the development and quantification of the PRA models. The background for the work documented in this report is summarized, including how deterministic codes are used in PRAS, why the MELCOR code is used, what the capabilities and features of MELCOR are, and how the code has been used by others in the past. Brief descriptions of the Grand Gulf plant and its configuration during LP ampersand S operation and of the MELCOR input model developed for the Grand Gulf plant in its LP ampersand S configuration are given

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Grand Gulf, Unit 1: Evaluation of severe accident risks for plant operational state 5 during a refueling outage. Supporting MELCOR calculations, Volume 6, Part 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kmetyk, L.N.; Brown, T.D. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

1995-03-01

To gain a better understanding of the risk significance of low power and shutdown modes of operation, the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research at the NRC established programs to investigate the likelihood and severity of postulated accidents that could occur during low power and shutdown (LP&S) modes of operation at commercial nuclear power plants. To investigate the likelihood of severe core damage accidents during off power conditions, probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) were performed for two nuclear plants: Unit 1 of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, which is a BWR-6 Mark III boiling water reactor (BWR), and Unit 1 of the Surry Power Station, which is a three-loop, subatmospheric, pressurized water reactor (PWR). The analysis of the BWR was conducted at Sandia National Laboratories while the analysis of the PWR was performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This multi-volume report presents and discusses the results of the BWR analysis. The subject of this part presents the deterministic code calculations, performed with the MELCOR code, that were used to support the development and quantification of the PRA models. The background for the work documented in this report is summarized, including how deterministic codes are used in PRAS, why the MELCOR code is used, what the capabilities and features of MELCOR are, and how the code has been used by others in the past. Brief descriptions of the Grand Gulf plant and its configuration during LP&S operation and of the MELCOR input model developed for the Grand Gulf plant in its LP&S configuration are given.

Hydrogen production in a PWR during LOCA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cassette, P.

1984-01-01

Hydrogen generation during a PWR LOCA has been estimated for design basis accident and for two more severe hypothetical accidents. Hydrogen production during design basis accident is a rather slow mechanism, allowing in the worst case, 15 days to connect a hydrogen recombining unit to the containment atmosphere monitoring system. Hydrogen generated by steam oxidation during more severe hypothetical accidents was found limited by steam availability and fuel melting phenomena. Uncertainty is, however, still remaining on corium-zirconium-steam interaction. In the worst case, calculations lead to the production of 500 kg of hydrogen, thus leading to a volume concentration of 15% in containment atmosphere, assuming homogeneous hydrogen distribution within the reactor building. This concentration is within flammability limits but not within detonation limits. However, hydrogen detonation due to local hydrogen accumulation cannot be discarded. A major uncertainty subsisting on hydrogen hazard is hydrogen distribution during the first hours of the accident. This point determines the effects and consequences of local detonation or deflagration which could possibly be harmful to safeguard systems, or induce missile generation in the reactor building. As electrical supply failures are identified as an important contributor to severe accident risk, corrective actions have been taken in France to improve their reliability, including the installation of a gas turbine on each site to supplement the existing sources. These actions are thus contributing to hydrogen hazard reduction

Chemical phenomena under severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powers, D.A.

1988-01-01

A severe nuclear reactor accident is expected to involve a vast number of chemical processes. The chemical processes of major safety significance begin with the production of hydrogen during steam oxidation of fuel cladding. Physico-chemical changes in the fuel and the vaporization of radionuclides during reactor accidents have captured much of the attention of the safety community in recent years. Protracted chemical interactions of core debris with structural concrete mark the conclusion of dynamic events in a severe accident. An overview of the current understanding of chemical processes in severe reactor accident is provided in this paper. It is shown that most of this understanding has come from application of findings from other fields though a few areas have in the past been subject to in-depth study of a fundamental nature. Challenges in the study of severe accident chemistry are delineated

Severe accident approach - final report. Evaluation of design measures for severe accident prevention and consequence mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tentner, A.M.; Parma, E.; Wei, T.; Wigeland, R.

2010-01-01

An important goal of the US DOE reactor development program is to conceptualize advanced safety design features for a demonstration Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR). The treatment of severe accidents is one of the key safety issues in the design approach for advanced SFR systems. It is necessary to develop an in-depth understanding of the risk of severe accidents for the SFR so that appropriate risk management measures can be implemented early in the design process. This report presents the results of a review of the SFR features and phenomena that directly influence the sequence of events during a postulated severe accident. The report identifies the safety features used or proposed for various SFR designs in the US and worldwide for the prevention and/or mitigation of Core Disruptive Accidents (CDA). The report provides an overview of the current SFR safety approaches and the role of severe accidents. Mutual understanding of these design features and safety approaches is necessary for future collaborations between the US and its international partners as part of the GEN IV program. The report also reviews the basis for an integrated safety approach to severe accidents for the SFR that reflects the safety design knowledge gained in the US during the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) and Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) programs. This approach relies on inherent reactor and plant safety performance characteristics to provide additional safety margins. The goal of this approach is to prevent development of severe accident conditions, even in the event of initiators with safety system failures previously recognized to lead directly to reactor damage.

Severe accident approach - final report. Evaluation of design measures for severe accident prevention and consequence mitigation.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tentner, A. M.; Parma, E.; Wei, T.; Wigeland, R.; Nuclear Engineering Division; SNL; INL

2010-03-01

An important goal of the US DOE reactor development program is to conceptualize advanced safety design features for a demonstration Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR). The treatment of severe accidents is one of the key safety issues in the design approach for advanced SFR systems. It is necessary to develop an in-depth understanding of the risk of severe accidents for the SFR so that appropriate risk management measures can be implemented early in the design process. This report presents the results of a review of the SFR features and phenomena that directly influence the sequence of events during a postulated severe accident. The report identifies the safety features used or proposed for various SFR designs in the US and worldwide for the prevention and/or mitigation of Core Disruptive Accidents (CDA). The report provides an overview of the current SFR safety approaches and the role of severe accidents. Mutual understanding of these design features and safety approaches is necessary for future collaborations between the US and its international partners as part of the GEN IV program. The report also reviews the basis for an integrated safety approach to severe accidents for the SFR that reflects the safety design knowledge gained in the US during the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) and Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) programs. This approach relies on inherent reactor and plant safety performance characteristics to provide additional safety margins. The goal of this approach is to prevent development of severe accident conditions, even in the event of initiators with safety system failures previously recognized to lead directly to reactor damage.

Deterministic analyses of severe accident issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dua, S.S.; Moody, F.J.; Muralidharan, R.; Claassen, L.B.

2004-01-01

Severe accidents in light water reactors involve complex physical phenomena. In the past there has been a heavy reliance on simple assumptions regarding physical phenomena alongside of probability methods to evaluate risks associated with severe accidents. Recently GE has developed realistic methodologies that permit deterministic evaluations of severe accident progression and of some of the associated phenomena in the case of Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs). These deterministic analyses indicate that with appropriate system modifications, and operator actions, core damage can be prevented in most cases. Furthermore, in cases where core-melt is postulated, containment failure can either be prevented or significantly delayed to allow sufficient time for recovery actions to mitigate severe accidents

Development of Krsko Severe Accident Management Database (SAMD)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basic, I.; Kocnar, R.

1996-01-01

Severe Accident Management is a framework to identify and implement the Emergency Response Capabilities that can be used to prevent or mitigate severe accidents and their consequences. Krsko Severe Accident Management Database documents the severe accident management activities which are developed in the NPP Krsko, based on the Krsko IPE (Individual Plant Examination) insights and Generic WOG SAMGs (Westinghouse Owners Group Severe Accident Management Guidance). (author)

United States position on severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross, D.F.

1988-01-01

The United States policy on severe accidents was published in 1985 for both new plant applications and for existing plants. Implementation of this policy is in progress. This policy, aided by a related safety goal policy and by analysis capabilities emerging from improved understanding of accident phenomenology, is viewed as a logical development from the pioneering work in the WASH-1400 Reactor Safety Study published by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1975. This work provided an estimate of the probability and consequences of severe accidents which, prior to that time, had been mostly evaluated by somewhat arbitrary assumptions dating back 30 years. The early history of severe accident evaluation is briefly summarized for the period 1957-1979. Then, the galvanizing action of Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) on severe accident analysis, experimentation and regulation is reviewed. Expressions of US policy in the form of rulemaking, severe accident policy, safety research, safety goal policy and court decisions (on adequacy of safety) are discussed. Finally, the NRC policy as of March 1988 is stated, along with a prospective look at the next few years. (author). 19 refs

National practices in relation to severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soda, Kunihisa

1989-01-01

After the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, many studies have been carried out on severe accidents by various organizations including IAEA and OECD/CSNI. In the present article, measures taken in different countries against severe accidents are outlined based on the results of these studies. In Sweden, policies for the management of a severe accident and reduction in the release of radioactive materials were established based on reports issued by the Atomic Energy Committee, which was set up after the Three Mile Island accident. The current policies require that filter vents be provided where necessary. France, following Sweden, adopted the use of filter vents. Operation procedures to be followed in the event of a severe accident have been established in the nation. The measures against severe accidents adopted in West Germany mainly focus on the weakening of the effects of accidents, and are not covered by the design standards. The use of filter vents are also required in Finland and Switzerland. In the U.S., a program for individual plant examination will be implemented over the three-year period beginning in 1989. Studies on measures against severe accidents seem to be performed also in the Soviet Union. (N.K.)

Status on development and verification of reactivity initiated accident analysis code for PWR (NODAL3)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Hong Liem; Surian Pinem; Tagor Malem Sembiring; Tran Hoai Nam

2015-01-01

A coupled neutronics thermal-hydraulics code NODAL3 has been developed based on the nodal few-group neutron diffusion theory in 3-dimensional Cartesian geometry for a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) static and transient analyses, especially for reactivity initiated accidents (RIA). The spatial variables are treated by using a polynomial nodal method (PNM) while for the neutron dynamic solver the adiabatic and improved quasi-static methods are adopted. A simple single channel thermal-hydraulics module and its steam table is implemented into the code. Verification works on static and transient benchmarks are being conducting to assess the accuracy of the code. For the static benchmark verification, the IAEA-2D, IAEA-3D, BIBLIS and KOEBERG light water reactor (LWR) benchmark problems were selected, while for the transient benchmark verification, the OECD NEACRP 3-D LWR Core Transient Benchmark and NEA-NSC 3-D/1-D PWR Core Transient Benchmark (Uncontrolled Withdrawal of Control Rods at Zero Power). Excellent agreement of the NODAL3 results with the reference solutions and other validated nodal codes was confirmed. (author)

MELCOR assessment of sequential severe accident mitigation actions under SGTR accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Wonjun; Jeon, Joongoo; Kim, Nam Kyung; Kim, Sung Joong

2017-01-01

The representative example of the severe accident studies using the severe accident code is investigation of effectiveness of developed severe accident management (SAM) strategy considering the positive and adverse effects. In Korea, some numerical studies were performed to investigate the SAM strategy using various severe accident codes. Seo et.al performed validation of RCS depressurization strategy and investigated the effect of severe accident management guidance (SAMG) entry condition under small break loss of coolant accident (SBLOCA) without safety injection (SI), station blackout (SBO), and total loss of feed water (TLOFW) scenarios. The SGTR accident with the sequential mitigation actions according to the flow chart of SAMG was simulated by the MELCOR 1.8.6 code. Three scenariospreventing the RPV failure were investigated in terms of fission product release, hydrogen risk, and the containment pressure. Major conclusions can be summarized as follows: (1) According to the flow chart of SAMG, RPV failure can be prevented depending on the method of RCS depressurization. (2) To reduce the release of fission product during the injecting into SGs, a temporary opening of SDS before the injecting into SGs was suggested. These modified sequences of mitigation actions can reduce the release of fission product and the adverse effect of SDS.

Release fraction of PWR after severe accidents. Vol. 4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aziz, M; El-Messeiry, A M [National Center for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt)

1996-03-01

Fission fragments and gases are emitted after accidents as a result of core meltdown and core concrete interactions. These aerosols are transported and fill the reactor containment. With increasing the pressure above pressure design bases, a failure of containment may occur and subsequently these aerosols will release into the external environment leading to a source term of radioactivity that affects the safety of workers and public. The amount of aerosol which escapes to the environment can be described by the release fraction which is defined as the total accumulated aerosol which initially enters the containment. The factors that affect the release fraction is studied, and the aerosol dynamics equation is used to model the release of aerosol to the outside atmosphere. These factors are containment pressure, failure time,break area, the size of aerosol particle. It found that early failure time and higher pressure increase the release fraction, also the release faction is affected by the area and the aerosol particle size. 7 figs., 2 tabs.

Release fraction of PWR after severe accidents. Vol. 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aziz, M.; El-Messeiry, A.M.

1996-01-01

Fission fragments and gases are emitted after accidents as a result of core meltdown and core concrete interactions. These aerosols are transported and fill the reactor containment. With increasing the pressure above pressure design bases, a failure of containment may occur and subsequently these aerosols will release into the external environment leading to a source term of radioactivity that affects the safety of workers and public. The amount of aerosol which escapes to the environment can be described by the release fraction which is defined as the total accumulated aerosol which initially enters the containment. The factors that affect the release fraction is studied, and the aerosol dynamics equation is used to model the release of aerosol to the outside atmosphere. These factors are containment pressure, failure time,break area, the size of aerosol particle. It found that early failure time and higher pressure increase the release fraction, also the release faction is affected by the area and the aerosol particle size. 7 figs., 2 tabs

Use of PSA and severe accident assessment results for the accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, S. H.; Kim, H. G.; Jang, H. S.; Moon, S. K.; Park, J. U.

1993-12-01

The objectives for this study are to investigate the basic principle or methodology which is applicable to accident management, by using the results of PSA and severe accident research, and also facilitate the preparation of accidents management program in the future. This study was performed as follows: derivation of measures for core damage prevention, derivation of measures for accident mitigation, application of computerized tool to assess severe accident management

Use of PSA and severe accident assessment results for the accident management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, S H; Kim, H G; Jang, H S; Moon, S K; Park, J U [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

1993-12-15

The objectives for this study are to investigate the basic principle or methodology which is applicable to accident management, by using the results of PSA and severe accident research, and also facilitate the preparation of accidents management program in the future. This study was performed as follows: derivation of measures for core damage prevention, derivation of measures for accident mitigation, application of computerized tool to assess severe accident management.

Development of simplified 1D and 2D models for studying a PWR lower head failure under severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koundy, V.; Dupas, J.; Bonneville, H.; Cormeau, I.

2005-01-01

In the study of severe accidents of nuclear pressurized water reactors, the scenarios that describe the relocation of significant quantities of liquid corium at the bottom of the lower head are investigated from the mechanical point of view. In these scenarios, the risk of a breach and the possibility of a large quantity of corium being released from the lower head exist. This may lead to direct heating of the containment or outer vessel steam explosion. These issues are important due to their early containment failure potential. Since the TMI-2 accident, many theoretical and experimental investigations, relating to lower head mechanical behaviour under severe thermo-mechanical loading in the event of a core meltdown accident have been performed. IRSN participated actively in the one-fifth scale USNRC/SNL LHF and OECD LHF (OLHF) programs. Within the framework of these programs, two simplified models were developed by IRSN: the first is a simplified 1D approach based on the theory of pressurized spherical shells and the second is a simplified 2D model based on the theory of shells of revolution under symmetric loading. The mathematical formulation of both models and the creep constitutive equations used are presented in detail in this paper. The corresponding models were used to interpret some of the OLHF program experiments and the calculation results were quite consistent with the experimental data. The two simplified models have been used to simulate the thermo-mechanical behaviour of a 900 MWe pressurized water reactor lower head under severe accident conditions leading to failure. The average transient heat flux produced by the corium relocated at the bottom of the lower head has been determined using the IRSN HARAR code. Two different methods, both taking into account the ablation of the internal surface, are used to determine the temperature profiles across the lower head wall and their effect on the time to failure is discussed. Using these simplified models

Zircaloy oxidation and cladding deformation in PWR-specific CORA experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minato, K.; Hering, W.; Hagen, S.

1991-07-01

Out-of-pile bundle experiments (zircaloy 4) are performed in the CORA facility to investigate the behavior of PWR fuel elements during severe fuel damage (SFD) accidents. Within the international cooperation the most significant phenomena such as cladding deformation, oxidation (especially the zirconium/steam reaction), melt formation, melt release, and relocation which were found in all tests have been analyzed. (orig./MM) [de

Mitigation of severe accidents in AREVA's Gen 3+ nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fischer, M., E-mail: manfred.fischer@areva.com; Henning, A.; Surmann, R.

2014-04-01

The current AREVA Gen 3+ PWR designs (EPR™ and ATMEA1) are based on the proven defense-in-depth safety concepts inherited from their predecessors, the French “N4” and the German “Konvoi” reactors. Complemented by specific enhancements, including higher redundancy and diversity as well as the use of passive systems, this leads to very low values of the core damage frequency (CDF). Notwithstanding this very low probability, dedicated design measures have been implemented to improve the response of the plant in case of a postulated severe accident (SA) with core melting. This way not only the frequency of large-early-releases (LERF) but also the related radiological consequences are drastically reduced. Situations that potentially lead to high loads that can challenge the short-term integrity of the containment, like RPV melt-through under high pressure, energetic hydrogen/steam explosions, as well as long-term containment failure caused by internal over-pressure are avoided by a combination of preventive measures and dedicated systems. At the example of the EPR{sup TM}, the paper gives an overview of the severe accident mitigation strategy and the related measures and systems of AREVAs current Gen 3+ reactors, with special focus on the function of the core melt stabilization system.

Correlation of Steam Generator Mixing Parameters for Severe Accident Hot-Leg Natural Circulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liao, Yehong; Guentay, Salih [Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI, CH-5232 (Switzerland)

2008-07-01

Steam generator inlet plenum mixing phenomenon with hot-leg counter-current natural circulation during a PWR station blackout severe accident is one of the important processes governing which component will fail first as a result of thermal challenge from the circulating gas with high temperature and pressure. Since steam generator tube failure represents bypass release of fission product from the reactor to environment, study of inlet plenum mixing parameters is important to risk analysis. Probability distribution functions of individual mixing parameter should be obtained from experiments or calculated by analysis. In order to perform sensitivity studies of the synergetic effects of all mixing parameters on the severe accident-induced steam generator tube failure, the distribution and correlation of these mixing parameters must be known to remove undue conservatism in thermal-hydraulic calculations. This paper discusses physical laws governing three mixing parameters in a steady state and setups the correlation among these mixing parameters. The correlation is then applied to obtain the distribution of one of the mixing parameters that has not been given in the previous CFD analysis. Using the distributions and considering the inter-dependence of the three mixing parameters, three sensitivity cases enveloping the mixing parameter uncertainties are recommended for the plant analysis. (authors)

Improvement of severe accident analysis method for KSNP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Jae Hong [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Song Won; Cho, Youn Soo [Korea Radiation Technology Institute Co., Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2002-03-15

The objective of this study is preparation of MELCOR 1.8.5 input deck for KSNP and simulation of some major severe accidents. The contents of this project are preparation of MELCOR 1.8.5 base input deck for KSNP to understand severe accident phenomena and to assess severe accident strategy, preparation of 20 cell containment input deck to simulate the distribution of hydrogen and fission products in containment, simulation of some major severe accident scenarios such as TLOFW, SBO, SBLOCA, MBLOCA, and LBLOCA. The method for MELCOR 1.8.5 input deck preparation can be used to prepare the input deck for domestic PWRs and to simulate severe accident experiments such as ISP-46. Information gained from analyses of severe accidents may be helpful to set up the severe accident management strategy and to develop regulatory guidance.

SEVERE ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT STATUS AT Loviisa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kymalainen, O.; Tuomisto, H.

1997-01-01

Some of the specific design features of IVO's Loviisa Plant, most notably the ice-condenser containment, strongly affect the plant response in a hypothetical core melt accident. They have together with the relatively stringent Finnish regulatory requirements forced IVO to develop a tailor made severe accident management strategy for Loviisa. The low design pressure of the ice-condenser containment complicates the design of the hydrogen management system. On the other hand, the ice-condensers and the water available from them are facilitating factors regarding in-vessel retention of corium by external cooling of reactor pressure vessel. This paper summarizes the Finnish severe accident requirements, IVO's approach to severe accidents, and its application to the Loviisa Plant

How has severe accident analysis contributed to sizewell B and how can it continue to contribute in the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, J.R.; Western, D.J.

1987-01-01

Sizewell B is a proposed 1100 MWe PWR which is a UK development of the US SNUPPS design. The UK reference design document for the plant was first issued in 1981 and the Pre-Construction Safety Report (PCSR) was submitted to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), the UK licensing authority, in 1982. A major public inquiry into the proposal took place between January 1983 and March 1985. This paper is concerned with the analysis of severe accidents. This means all the analysis that is concerned with those fault sequences that are outside the design basis of the plant and which may lead to severe consequences - either in terms of plant damage or release of radioactivity. This analysis comprises probabilistic assessments of the frequency of such sequences, transient analysis of the way such sequences develop and radiological release analysis. Part one of this paper examines how the severe accident analysis carried out for Sizewell B has contributed to the judgement that the design is sound and that the construction phase should proceed. The second part of the paper looks to the future and asks ''Can severe accident analysis make any further contribution during the period from licensing up until operation commences

Influence of the aquatic environment on release behavior of fission products. Experimental study of aerosol emission during a PWR severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monfort, M.

1989-06-01

This experimental study concerns the consequences on the environment of a PWR severe accident. A preliminary bibliographical survey has been undertaken in order to determine the elements to study, and the experimental protocols to use. 4 fission products (Cs, Sr, Ru, Ce) and 3 structure materials (Ag, Fe, In) have been chosen. Tests of cations (Cs + ) retention by soils have been done. They showed up the great variability of the results according to experimental procedures (contact time, agitation, solid phase concentration...). The adoption of a standard procedure which would enable the different results comparison is suggested. Then, the dissolution of powders from the 7 elements has been studied in different solutions. Two different phenomena occurs for some elements. We observed a partial dissolution of Ag, In and Ce, according to solution compositions, but fine particles or colloid presence may contribute to the solution total activity. The Cs dissolution is more important but never complete, because of an amalgam formation during calcination with structure materials. Ru doesn't dissolve, and fine particles presence is the reason of solution activity. Soils retention is minimal for the elements that are neutral, like Ru, and maximal for cations, especially Cs + . High contents of organic matter and clay in soils enhance retention. Thanks to the new theoretical source term values, plurielementary aerosols fabrication has debuted. The installation we used (Inducing oven with an aerosol maturation enclosure) allows the obtention of temperatures as high as 2800 - 3000 0 C and the volatilization of 13 elements between the 16 presents. Suggestions are done that may increase the Ru, Ce and Zr emissions [fr

Conclusions on severe accident research priorities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein-Heßling, W.; Sonnenkalb, M.; Jacquemain, D.; Clément, B.; Raimond, E.; Dimmelmeier, H.; Azarian, G.; Ducros, G.; Journeau, C.; Herranz Puebla, L.E.; Schumm, A.; Miassoedov, A.; Kljenak, I.; Pascal, G.; Bechta, S.; Güntay, S.; Koch, M.K.; Ivanov, I.; Auvinen, A.; Lindholm, I.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Estimation of research priorities related to severe accident phenomena. • Consideration of new topics, partly linked to the severe accidents at Fukushima. • Consideration of results of recent projects, e.g. SARNET, ASAMPSA2, OECD projects. - Abstract: The objectives of the SARNET network of excellence are to define and work on common research programs in the field of severe accidents in Gen. II–III nuclear power plants and to further develop common tools and methodologies for safety assessment in this area. In order to ensure that the research conducted on severe accidents is efficient and well-focused, it is necessary to periodically evaluate and rank the priorities of research. This was done at the end of 2008 by the Severe Accident Research Priority (SARP) group at the end of the SARNET project of the 6th Framework Programme of European Commission (FP6). This group has updated this work in the FP7 SARNET2 project by accounting for the recent experimental results, the remaining safety issues as e.g. highlighted by Level 2 PSA national studies and the results of the recent ASAMPSA2 FP7 project. These evaluation activities were conducted in close relation with the work performed under the auspices of international organizations like OECD or IAEA. The Fukushima-Daiichi severe accidents, which occurred while SARNET2 was running, had some effects on the prioritization and definition of new research topics. Although significant progress has been gained and simulation models (e.g. the ASTEC integral code, jointly developed by IRSN and GRS) were improved, leading to an increased confidence in the predictive capabilities for assessing the success potential of countermeasures and/or mitigation measures, most of the selected research topics in 2008 are still of high priority. But the Fukushima-Daiichi accidents underlined that research efforts had to focus still more to improve severe accident management efficiency

Severe accident management guidelines tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutierrez Varela, Javier; Tanarro Onrubia, Augustin; Martinez Fanegas, Rafael

2014-01-01

Severe Accident is addressed by means of a great number of documents such as guidelines, calculation aids and diagnostic trees. The response methodology often requires the use of several documents at the same time while Technical Support Centre members need to assess the appropriate set of equipment within the adequate mitigation strategies. In order to facilitate the response, TECNATOM has developed SAMG TOOL, initially named GGAS TOOL, which is an easy to use computer program that clearly improves and accelerates the severe accident management. The software is designed with powerful features that allow the users to focus on the decision-making process. Consequently, SAMG TOOL significantly improves the severe accident training, ensuring a better response under a real situation. The software is already installed in several Spanish Nuclear Power Plants and trainees claim that the methodology can be followed easier with it, especially because guidelines, calculation aids, equipment information and strategies availability can be accessed immediately (authors)

Experiments for simulating a great leak in the primary coolant circuit of a PWR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liebig, E.

1977-01-01

A loss of coolant accident is to be simulated on a high pressure test rig. The accident is initiated by an externally induced rupture of a pair of rupture-disks installed in a coolant ejection device. Several problems of simulating leaks in the primary coolant circuit of PWR type reactors are dealt with. The selection of appropriate rupture-disks for such experiments is described

Improved emergency elevated air release for simplified PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naitoh, T.; Bruce, R.A.; Hirota, K.; Tajiri, Y.

1992-01-01

In developing the application of the simplified PWR in Japan, one of the most important areas is to limit post-accident site boundary whole body dose. In addressing this, the concept of Emergency Passive Air Filtration System (EPAFS) and it's feasibility is developed. The efficiency of charcoal filtering and the atmospheric diffusion effect of an elevated air release are important for dose reduction. The performance of these functions was evaluated by confirmatory testing. The test results confirmed a 99 percent efficiency of charcoal filter and an atmospheric diffusion effect higher than that of a conventional plant. The Emergency Passive Air Filtration System (EPAFS) and the atmospheric diffusion effect of elevated air release contribute to making the calculated post-accident site boundary whole body dose of simplified PWR as low as that of the conventional Japanese PWR plant. (author)

French PWR safety philosophy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conte, M.

1986-05-01

Increasing knowledge and lessons learned from starting and operating experience of French nuclear power plants, completed by the experience learned from the operation of foreign reactors, has contributed to the improvement of French PWR design and safety philosophy. Based on a deterministic approach, the French safety analysis was progressively completed by a probabilistic approach, each of them having possibilities and limits. As a consequence of the global risk objective set in 1977 for nuclear reactors, safety analysis was extended to the evaluation of events more complex than the conventional ones, and later to the evaluation of the feasibility of the offsite emergency plans in case of severe accidents

PWR degraded core analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gittus, J.H.

1982-04-01

A review is presented of the various phenomena involved in degraded core accidents and the ensuing transport of fission products from the fuel to the primary circuit and the containment. The dominant accident sequences found in the PWR risk studies published to date are briefly described. Then chapters deal with the following topics: the condition and behaviour of water reactor fuel during normal operation and at the commencement of degraded core accidents; the generation of hydrogen from the Zircaloy-steam and the steel-steam reactions; the way in which the core deforms and finally melts following loss of coolant; debris relocation analysis; containment integrity; fission product behaviour during a degraded core accident. (U.K.)

Addressing the fundamental issues in reliability evaluation of passive safety of AP1000 for a comparison with active safety of PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashim Muhammad; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Yang Ming

2013-01-01

Passive safety systems adopted in advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), such as AP1000 and EPR, should attain higher reliability than the existing active safety systems of the conventional PWR. The objective of this study is to discuss the fundamental issues relating to the reliability evaluation of AP1000 passive safety systems for a comparison with the active safety systems of conventional PWR, based on several aspects. First, comparisons between conventional PWR and AP1000 are made from the both aspects of safety design and cost reduction. The main differences between these PWR plants exist in the configurations of safety systems: AP1000 employs the passive safety system while reducing the number of active systems. Second, the safety of AP1000 is discussed from the aspect of severe accident prevention in the event of large break loss of coolant accidents (LOCA). Third, detailed fundamental issues on reliability evaluation of AP1000 passive safety systems are discussed qualitatively by using single loop models of safety systems of both PWRs plants. Lastly, methodology to conduct quantitative estimation of dynamic reliability for AP1000 passive safety systems in LOCA condition is discussed, in order to evaluate the reliability of AP1000 in future by a success-path-based reliability analysis method (i.e., GO-FLOW). (author)

Severe accident management. Prevention and Mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

Effective planning for the management of severe accidents at nuclear power plants can produce both a reduction in the frequency of such accidents as well as the ability to mitigate their consequences if and when they should occur. This report provides an overview of accident management activities in OECD countries. It also presents the conclusions of a group of international experts regarding the development of accident management methods, the integration of accident management planning into reactor operations, and the benefits of accident management

The development of severe accident analysis technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Heuy Dong; Cho, Sung Won; Kim, Sang Baek; Park, Jong Hwa; Lee, Kyu Jung; Park, Lae Joon; Hu, Hoh; Hong, Sung Wan [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1993-07-01

The objective of the development of severe accident analysis technology is to understand the severe accident phenomena such as core melt progression and to provide a reliable analytical tool to assess severe accidents in a nuclear power plant. Furthermore, establishment of the accident management strategies for the prevention/mitigation of severe accidents is also the purpose of this research. The study may be categorized into three areas. For the first area, two specific issues were reviewed to identify the further research direction, that is the natural circulation in the reactor coolant system and the fuel-coolant interaction as an in-vessel and an ex-vessel phenomenological study. For the second area, the MELCOR and the CONTAIN codes have been upgraded, and a validation calculation of the MELCOR has been performed for the PHEBUS-B9+ experiment. Finally, the experimental program has been established for the in-vessel and the ex-vessel severe accident phenomena with the in-pile test loop in KMRR and the integral containment test facilities, respectively. (Author).

Thermal-hydraulic uncertainties affecting severe accident progression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haskin, F.E.; Behr, V.L.

1984-01-01

To provide the proper technical bases for decisions regarding severe accidents, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is sponsoring the following activities: (a) a variety of severe accident research programs, combined under the Severe Accident Research Plan; (b) nationwide task forces on containment loading, containment response, and fission product source terms; (c) a review by the American Physical Society of state-of-the-art methods for calculating radiological source terms; and (d) technical exchange meetings with the Industry Degraded Core (IDCOR) program. One of the means for integrating this developing array of technical information is the Severe Accident Risk Reduction Program (SARRP). One of the current SARRP objectives is to utilize insights gained from the activities listed above to characterize the relative likelihoods of competing containment failure modes for core-melt accidents

The investigation of Passive Accident Mitigation Scheme for advanced PWR NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Er-bing; Fang, Cheng-yue; Wang, Chang; Xia, Geng-lei; Zhao, Cui-na

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We put forward a new PAMS and analyze its operation characteristics under SBO. • We conduct comparative analysis between PAMS and Traditional Secondary Side PHRS. • The PAMS could cope with SBO accident and maintain the plant in safe conditions. • PAMS could decrease heat removal capacity of PHRS. • PAMS has advantage in reducing cooling rate and PCCT temperature rising amplitude. - Abstract: To enhance inherent safety features of nuclear power plant, the advanced pressurized water reactors implement a series of passive safety systems. This paper puts forward and designs a new Passive Accident Mitigation Scheme (PAMS) to remove residual heat, which consists of two parts: the first part is Passive Auxiliary Feedwater System (PAFS), and the other part is Passive Heat Removal System (PHRS). This paper takes the Westinghouse-designed Advanced Passive PWR (AP1000) as research object and analyzes the operation characteristics of PAMS to cope with the Station Blackout Accident (SBO) by using RELAP5 code. Moreover, the comparative analysis is also conducted between PAMS and Traditional Secondary Circuit PHRS to derive the advantages of PAMS. The results show that the designed scheme can remove core residual heat significantly and maintain the plant in safe conditions; the first part of PAMS would stop after 120 min and the second part has to come into use simultaneously; the low pressurizer (PZR) pressure signal would be generated 109 min later caused by coolant volume shrinkage, which would actuate the Passive Safety Injection System (PSIS) to recovery the water level of pressurizer; the flow instability phenomenon would occur and last 21 min after the PHRS start-up; according to the comparative analysis, the coolant average temperature gradient and the Passive Condensate Cooling Tank (PCCT) water temperature rising amplitude of PAMS are lower than those of Traditional Secondary Circuit PHRS

Technology, safety, and costs of decommissioning reference light-water reactors following postulated accidents. Appendices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murphy, E S; Holter, G M

1982-11-01

Appendices contain information concerning the reference site description; reference PWR facility description; details of reference accident scenarios and resultant contamination levels; generic cleanup and decommissioning information; details of activities and manpower requirements for accident cleanup at a reference PWR; activities and manpower requirements for decommissioning at a reference PWR; costs of decommissioning at a reference PWR; cost estimating bases; safety assessment details; and details of post-accident cleanup and decommissioning at a reference BWR.

Severe accident mitigation and core melt retention in the European pressurized reactor (EPR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, Manfred

2003-01-01

For the mitigation of severe accidents, the FPR has adopted and improved the defense-in-depth approaches of its predecessors, the French 'N4' and the German 'Konvoi' PWR's. Beyond these evolutionary changes, it includes a new, 4-th level of defense aimed at limiting the consequences of a postulated severe accident with core melting. This involves a strengthening of the confinement function and the avoidance of large early releases, by the prevention of scenarios and events with potentially high loads on the containment, incl. RPV failure at high pressure. The remaining low-pressure accidents are mitigated by dedicated design measures. The paper gives an overview and of the measures for H 2 -mitigation and steam explosion and focuses on a detailed description of the precautions and design measures for the stabilization and long-term cooling of the molten core. In the EPR the latter is achieved by melt spreading into a large outside-cooled crucible lateral to the pit, which is passively flooded and cooled with water from the IRWST. The separation of functions between pit and spreading room not only isolates the core catcher from the various loads during RPV failure, but also avoids any risks related to an unintended initiation of flooding during power operation. A stable state of the melt is reached after a few hours. Complete solidification is achieved within days. The core catcher can optionally be cooled actively by the CHRS, which avoids further steaming into the containment and establishes ambient pressure conditions in the long term. (author)

The effect of severe accident mitigation design on the containment performance for Korean ALWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Na, J. H.; Lee, J. S.; Lim, H. K.; Kim, J. K.

2001-01-01

The containment performance analysis for Korean ALWR standard design has been performed to confirm the safety goal and to identify the design features vulnerable to severe accidents for the on-going design. The results in terms of conditional containment failure probability show Korean ALWR design does not have any particular vulnerability given core damage sequences. It shows the conditional containment failure probability for pull power internal event is less than that of design goal. The late containment failure is much less than 4% for given core damages and that of containment bypass is about 2%. New design features of the Korean ALWR such as bydrogen mitigation system (IIMS), cavity flooding system (CFS), and emergency containment spray bakcup system (ECSBS), external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC), etc. are reflected in Korean ALWR design and is reviewed in this paper to give an insight for the design vulnerabilities and input to the development of accident management. These Korean ALWR specific design features showed the containment performance is significantly enhanced compared with the other PWR plants

Application of the accident management information needs methodology to a severe accident sequence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, L.W.; Hanson, D.J.; Nelson, W.R.; Solberg, D.E.

1989-01-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is conducting an Accident Management Research Program that emphasizes the application of severe accident research results to enhance the capability of plant operating personnel to effectively manage severe accidents. A methodology to identify and assess the information needs of the operating staff of a nuclear power plant during a severe accident has been developed as part of the research program designed to resolve this issue. The methodology identifies the information needs of the plant personnel during a wide range of accident conditions, the existing plant measurements capable of supplying these information needs and what, if any minor additions to instrument and display systems would enhance the capability to manage accidents, known limitations on the capability of these measurements to function properly under the conditions that will be present during a wide range of severe accidents, and areas in which the information systems could mislead plant personnel. This paper presents an application of this methodology to a severe accident sequence to demonstrate its use in identifying the information which is available for management of the event. The methodology has been applied to a severe accident sequence in a Pressurized Water Reactor with a large dry containment. An examination of the capability of the existing measurements was then performed to determine whether the information needs can be supplied

Analyses of severe accident scenarios in RBMK-1500

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaliatka, A.; Rimkevicius, S.; Uspuras, E.; Urbonavicius, E.

2006-01-01

Even though research of severe accidents in light water reactors is performed around the world for several decades many questions remain. Research is mostly performed for vessel-type reactors. RBMK is a channel type light water reactor, which differs from the vessel-type reactors in several aspects. These differences impose some specifics in the accident phenomena and processes that occur during severe accidents. Severe accident research for RBMK reactors is taking first steps and very little information is available in the open literature. The existing severe accident analysis codes are developed for vessel-type reactors and their application to the analysis of accidents in RBMK is not straightforward. This paper presents the results of an analysis of large loss-of-coolant accident scenarios with loss of coolant injection to the core of RBMK-1500. The analysis performed considers processes in the reactor core, in the reactor cooling system and in the confinement until the fuel melting started. This paper does not aim to answer all the questions regarding severe accidents in RBMK but rather to start a discussion, identify the expected timing of the key phenomena. (orig.)

Sensitivity Verification of PWR Monitoring System Using Neuro-Expert For LOCA Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhammad Subekti

2009-01-01

Sensitivity Verification of PWR Monitoring System Using Neuro-Expert For LOCA Detection. The present research was done for verification of previous developed method on Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) detection and perform simulations for knowing the sensitivity of the PWR monitoring system that applied neuro-expert method. The previous research continuing on present research, has developed and has tested the neuro-expert method for several anomaly detections in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) typed Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Neuro-expert can detect the LOCA anomaly with sensitivity of primary coolant leakage of 7 gallon/min and the conventional method could not detect the primary coolant leakage of 30 gallon/min. Neuro expert method detects significantly LOCA anomaly faster than conventional system in Surry-1 NPP as well so that the impact risk is reducible. (author)

Application of the accident management information needs methodology to a severe accident sequence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, L.W.; Hanson, D.J.; Nelson, W.R.; Solberg, D.E.

1989-01-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting an accident management research program that emphasizes the use of severe accident research to enhance the ability of plant operating personnel to effectively manage severe accidents. Hence, it is necessary to ensure that the plant instrumentation and information systems adequately provide this information to the operating staff during accident conditions. A methodology to identify and assess the information needs of the operating staff of a nuclear power plant during a severe accident has been developed. The methodology identifies (a) the information needs of the plant personnel during a wide range of accident conditions, (b) the existing plant measurements capable of supplying these information needs and minor additions to instrument and display systems that would enhance management capabilities, (c) measurement capabilities and limitations during severe accident conditions, and (d) areas in which the information systems could mislead plant personnel

Application of the accident management information needs methodology to a severe accident sequence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, L.W.; Hanson, D.J.; Nelson, W.R. (Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho Falls (USA)); Solberg, D.E. (Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA))

1989-11-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting an accident management research program that emphasizes the use of severe accident research to enhance the ability of plant operating personnel to effectively manage severe accidents. Hence, it is necessary to ensure that the plant instrumentation and information systems adequately provide this information to the operating staff during accident conditions. A methodology to identify and assess the information needs of the operating staff of a nuclear power plant during a severe accident has been developed. The methodology identifies (a) the information needs of the plant personnel during a wide range of accident conditions, (b) the existing plant measurements capable of supplying these information needs and minor additions to instrument and display systems that would enhance management capabilities, (c) measurement capabilities and limitations during severe accident conditions, and (d) areas in which the information systems could mislead plant personnel.

Severe accident mitigation through containment design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergeron, K.D.

1990-01-01

Recent U.S. Department of Energy plans to construct a Heavy Water Reactor for the production of defense nuclear materials have created a unique opportunity to explore ways to mitigate severe accident concerns in the design stage. Drawing on an extensive background in US-NRC-sponsored severe accident work, Sandia National Laboratories has been exploring a number of Heavy Water New Production Reactor (HW-NPR) containment design strategies that might mitigate the consequences of a core-melt accident without greatly impacting construction cost or reactor operations. Severe accident specialists have undertaken these assessments with the intent of providing the plant designers with some of the phenomenological advantages and disadvantages of various mitigation strategies. This paper will highlight some of the more interesting concepts and summarize the results obtained. (author). 9 refs., 2 tabs

Severe accident mitigation through containment design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergeron, K.D.

1990-01-01

Recent US Department of Energy plans to construct a Heavy Water Reactor for the production of defense nuclear materials have created a unique opportunity to explore ways to mitigate severe accident concerns in the design stage. Drawing on an extensive background in USNRC-sponsored severe accident work, Sandia National Laboratories has been exploring a number of Heavy Water New Production Reactor (HW-NPR) containment design strategies that might mitigate the consequences of a core-melt accident without greatly impacting construction cost or reactor operations. Severe accident specialists have undertaken these assessments with the intent of providing the plant designers with some of the phenomenological advantages and disadvantages of various mitigation strategies. This paper will highlight some of the more interesting concepts and summarize the results obtained. 9 refs., 2 tabs

Reactor Safety Gap Evaluation of Accident Tolerant Components and Severe Accident Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farmer, Mitchell T.; Bunt, R.; Corradini, M.; Ellison, Paul B.; Francis, M.; Gabor, John D.; Gauntt, R.; Henry, C.; Linthicum, R.; Luangdilok, W.; Lutz, R.; Paik, C.; Plys, M.; Rabiti, Cristian; Rempe, J.; Robb, K.; Wachowiak, R.

2015-01-01

The overall objective of this study was to conduct a technology gap evaluation on accident tolerant components and severe accident analysis methodologies with the goal of identifying any data and/or knowledge gaps that may exist, given the current state of light water reactor (LWR) severe accident research, and additionally augmented by insights obtained from the Fukushima accident. The ultimate benefit of this activity is that the results can be used to refine the Department of Energy's (DOE) Reactor Safety Technology (RST) research and development (R&D) program plan to address key knowledge gaps in severe accident phenomena and analyses that affect reactor safety and that are not currently being addressed by the industry or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Reactor Safety Gap Evaluation of Accident Tolerant Components and Severe Accident Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farmer, Mitchell T. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Bunt, R. [Southern Nuclear, Atlanta, GA (United States); Corradini, M. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Ellison, Paul B. [GE Power and Water, Duluth, GA (United States); Francis, M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Gabor, John D. [Erin Engineering, Walnut Creek, CA (United States); Gauntt, R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Henry, C. [Fauske and Associates, Burr Ridge, IL (United States); Linthicum, R. [Exelon Corp., Chicago, IL (United States); Luangdilok, W. [Fauske and Associates, Burr Ridge, IL (United States); Lutz, R. [PWR Owners Group (PWROG); Paik, C. [Fauske and Associates, Burr Ridge, IL (United States); Plys, M. [Fauske and Associates, Burr Ridge, IL (United States); Rabiti, Cristian [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Rempe, J. [Rempe and Associates LLC, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Robb, K. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wachowiak, R. [Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Knovville, TN (United States)

2015-01-31

The overall objective of this study was to conduct a technology gap evaluation on accident tolerant components and severe accident analysis methodologies with the goal of identifying any data and/or knowledge gaps that may exist, given the current state of light water reactor (LWR) severe accident research, and additionally augmented by insights obtained from the Fukushima accident. The ultimate benefit of this activity is that the results can be used to refine the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Reactor Safety Technology (RST) research and development (R&D) program plan to address key knowledge gaps in severe accident phenomena and analyses that affect reactor safety and that are not currently being addressed by the industry or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

A study on hydrogen deflagration for selected severe accident sequences in Ringhals 3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustavsson, V.; Moeller, E. [SwedPower AB (Sweden)

2002-01-01

In this report, we have investigated the most important severe accident sequences in Ringhals 3, a Westinghouse 3-loop PWR, concerning hydrogen generation and containment pressure at hydrogen deflagration. In order to analyze the accident sequences and to calculate the hydrogen production, the computer code MAAP (Modular Accident Analysis Program) was used. Six accident sequences were studied, where four were LOCA cases and two transients. MAAP gives the evolution of the accident and particularly the pressure in the containment and the production of hydrogen as a function of time. The pressure peaks at deflagration were calculated by the method AICC-Adiabatic Isochoric Complete Combustion. The results from these calculations are conservative for two reasons. Adiabatic combustion means that the heat losses to structures in the containment are neglected. The combustion is also assumed to occur once and all available hydrogen is burned. The maximum pressure in five analysed cases was compared with the failure pressure of the containment. In the LOCA case, 373 kg hydrogen was burned and the resulting peak pressure in the containment was 0,53 MPa. In the transient, where 720 kg hydrogen was burned, the peak pressure was 0,69 MPa. This is the same as the failure pressure of the containment. Finally, in the conservative case, 980 kg hydrogen was burned and the resulting peak pressure 0,96 MPa. However, it should be noted that these conclusions are conservative from two points of view. Firstly a more realistic (than AICC) calculation of the peak pressure would give a lower value than 0,69 MPa. Secondly, there is conservatism in the evaluation of the failure pressure. (au)

Analysis of accidental loss of pool coolant due to leakage in a PWR SFP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Xiaoli; Li, Wei; Zhang, Yapei; Tian, Wenxi; Su, Guanghui; Qiu, Suizheng

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Accidental loss of pool coolant due to leakage in a PWR SFP was studied using MAAP5. • The effect of emergency ventilation on the accident progression was investigated. • The effect of emergency injection on the accident progression was discussed. - Abstract: A large loss of pool coolant/water accident may be caused by extreme accidents such as the pool wall or bottom floor punctures due to a large aircraft strike. The safety of SFP under this circumstance is very important. Large amounts of radioactive materials would be easily released into the environment if a severe accident happened in the SFP, because the spent fuel pool (SFP) in a PWR nuclear power station (NPS) is often located in the fuel handing building outside the reactor containment. To gain insight into the loss of pool coolant accident progression for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) SFP, a computational model was established by using the Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP5). Important factors such as Zr oxidation by air, air natural circulation and thermal radiation were considered for partial and complete drainage accidents without mitigation measures. The calculation indicated that even if the residual water level was in the active fuel region, there was a chance to effectively remove the decay heat through axial heat conduction (if the pool cooling system failed) or steam cooling (if the pool cooling system was working). For sensitivity study, the effects of emergency ventilation and water injection on the accident progression were analyzed. The analysis showed that for the current configuration of high-density storage racks, it was difficult to cool the spent fuels by air natural circulation. Enlarging the space between the adjacent assemblies was a way of increasing air natural circulation flow rate and maintaining the coolability of SFP. Water injection to the bottom of the SFP helped to recover water inventory, quenching the high temperature assemblies to prevent

Source term aspects associated with future PWR containment systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuczera, B.; Kebler, G.; Ehrhardt, J.; Scholtyssek, W.

1994-01-01

The overall objective of reactor safety is to protect the population against dangerous releases of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants. In context with a reinforcement of the defense-in-depth strategy the common safety requirements on future nuclear power plants converge in the objective that these plants should be so safe that even in case of a severe accident there will be no need of off-site emergency actions such as an evacuation or resettlement of the population from the vicinity of a nuclear power plant. It is shown by the example of a future 1400 MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant that this goal can be attained in principle by providing a double containment with the annulus vented via an appropriate emergency standby filter. Within the framework of severe accident consequence mitigation a set of parameters for accident conditions and emergency filter efficiencies is elaborated under which the German lower levels of intervention for evacuation are not attained. (author). 10 refs., 3 tabs., 5 figs

On-line fission products measurements during a PWR severe accident: the French DECA-PF project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ducros, G.; Allinei, P.G.; Roure, C. [CEA, DEN, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, (France); Rozel, C. [EDF SEPTEN, 12-14 Avenue Dutrievoz, F-69628, Villeurbanne, (France); Blanc De Lanaute, N. [CANBERRA, 1 rue des Herons, F-78182, Saint Quentin en Yvelines, (France); Musoyan, G. [AREVA, Tour AREVA, 1 place Jean Millier, F-92084 Paris La Defense Cedex, (France)

2015-07-01

Following the Fukushima accident, a lot of recommendations was drawn by international organizations (IAEA, OECD, NUGENIA network...) in order to improve the safety in such accidental conditions and mitigate their consequences. One of these recommendations was to improve the robustness of the instrumentation, which was dramatically lacking at Fukushima, as well as to better determine the Source Term involved in nuclear accident. The DECA-PF project (Diagnosis of a degraded reactor core through Fission Product measurements) was elaborated in this context and selected as one of 21 collaborative R and D projects in the field of nuclear safety and radioprotection, funded in May 2013 by the French National Research Agency. Over the months following the Fukushima accident, a CEA crisis team was held in order to analyze on-line the situation taking into account the data delivered by TEPCO and other organizations. Despite the difficulties encountered concerning the reliability of these data, the work performed showed the high capacity of Fission Products (FP) measurements to get a diagnosis relative to the status of the reactors and the spent fuel pools (SFP). Based on these FP measurements, it was possible to conclude that the main origin of the releases was coming from the cores and not from the SFP, in particular for SFP-4 which was of high concern, and that the degradation level of the reactors was very large, including probably an extensive core melting. To improve the reliability of this kind of diagnosis, the necessity to get such measurements as soon as possible after the accident and as near as possible from the reactor was stressed. In this way the present DECA-PF project intends to develop a new and innovative instrumentation taking into account the design of the French nuclear power plants on which sand bed filters have been implemented for severe accident management. Three complementary techniques, devoted to measure the FP release on-line, are being studied

Severe accident mitigation strategy for the generation II PWRs in France. Some outcomes of the on-going periodic safety review of the French 1300 MWe PWR series

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cenerino, G.; Rahni, N.; Chevrier, P.; Dubreuil, M.; Guigueno, Y.; Raimond, E.; Bonnet, J.M. [IRSN/PSN-RES/SAG (France)

2013-07-01

The 3{sup rd} Periodic Safety Review of the French 1300 MWe PWRs series includes some modifications to increase their robustness in case of a severe accident. Their review is based on both deterministic and probabilistic approaches, keeping in mind that severe accidents frequencies and radiological consequences should be as low as reasonably practicable, severe accidents management strategies should be as safe as possible and the robustness of equipment used for severe accident management should be ensured. Consequently, the IRSN level 2 probabilistic safety assessment (L2 PSA) studies for the 1300 MWe reactors have been used to re-assess the results of the utility's L2 PSA and rank them to identify the containment failure modes contributing the most to the global risk. This ranking helped the review of plant modifications. Regarding strategies for accident management, the EDF management of water in the reactor cavity during a severe accident for the 1300 MWe PWRs is presented as well as the IRSN position on this strategy: this is an example where the optimal severe accident management strategy choice is not so easy to define. Regarding the robustness of equipment used for severe accident management, the interest of a diversification or redundancy of the French emergency filtered containment venting opening is one example among many others. (orig.)

Proceedings of the workshop on operator training for severe accident management and instrumentation capabilities during severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This Workshop was organised in collaboration with Electricite de France (Service Etudes et Projets Thermiques et Nucleaires). There were 34 participants, representing thirteen OECD Member countries, the Russian Federation and the OECD/NEA. Almost half the participants represented utilities. The second largest group was regulatory authorities and their technical support organisations. Basically, the Workshop was a follow-up to the 1997 Second Specialist Meeting on Operator Aids for Severe Accident Management (SAMOA-2) [Reports NEA/CSNI/R(97)10 and 27] and to the 1992 Specialist Meeting on Instrumentation to Manage Severe Accidents [Reports NEA/CSNI/R(92)11 and (93)3]. It was aimed at sharing and comparing progress made and experience gained from these two meetings, emphasizing practical lessons learnt during training or incidents as well as feedback from instrumentation capability assessment. The objectives of the Workshop were therefore: - to exchange information on recent and current activities in the area of operator training for SAM, and lessons learnt during the management of real incidents ('operator' is defined hear as all personnel involved in SAM); - to compare capabilities and use of instrumentation available during severe accidents; - to monitor progress made; - to identify and discuss differences between approaches relevant to reactor safety; - and to make recommendations to the Working Group on the Analysis and Management of Accidents and the CSNI (GAMA). The meeting confirmed that only limited information is needed for making required decisions for SAM. In most cases existing instrumentation should be able to provide usable information. Additional instrumentation requirements may arise from particular accident management measures implemented in some plants. In any case, depending on the time frame where the instrumentation should be relied upon, it should be assessed whether it is likely to survive the harsh environmental conditions it will be exposed

Development of a totally integrated severe accident training system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ko Ryu; Park, Sun Hee; Choi, Young; Kim, Dong Ha

2006-01-01

Recently KAERI has developed the severe accident management guidance to establish the Korea standard severe accident management system. On the other hand the PC-based severe accident training simulator SATS has been developed, which uses the MELCOR code as the simulation engine. The simulator SATS graphically displays and simulates the severe accidents with interactive user commands. Especially the control capability of SATS could make a severe accident training course more interesting and effective. In this paper we will describe the development and functions of the electrical guidance module, HyperKAMG, and the SATS-HyperKAMG linkage system designed for a totally integrated and automated severe accident training. (author)

Sarnet lecture notes on nuclear reactor severe accident phenomenology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trambauer, K.; Adroguer, B.; Fichot, F.; Muller, C.; Meyer, L.; Breitung, W.; Magallon, D.; Journeau, C.; Alsmeyer, H.; Housiadas, C.; Clement, B.; Ang, M.L.; Chaumont, B.; Ivanov, I.; Marguet, S.; Van Dorsselaere, J.P.; Fleurot, J.; Giordano, P.; Cranga, M.

2008-01-01

The 'Severe Accident Phenomenology Short Course' is part of the Excellence Spreading activities of the European Severe Accident Research NETwork of Excellence SARNET (project of the EURATOM 6. Framework programme). It was held at Cadarache, 9-13 January 2006. The course was divided in 14 lectures covering all aspects of severe accident phenomena that occur during a scenario. It also included lectures on PSA-2, Safety Assessment and design measures in new LWR plants for severe accident mitigation (SAM). This book presents the lecture notes of the Severe Accident Phenomenology Short Course and condenses the essential knowledge on severe accident phenomenology in 2008. (authors)

Severe accident tests and development of domestic severe accident system codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-08-15

According to lessons learned from Fukushima-Daiichi NPS accidents, the safety evaluation will be started based on the NRA's New Safety Standards. In parallel with this movement, reinforcement of Severe Accident (SA) Measures and Accident Managements (AMs) has been undertaken and establishments of relevant regulations and standards are recognized as urgent subjects. Strengthening responses against nuclear plant hazards, as well as realistic protection measures and their standardization is also recognized as urgent subjects. Furthermore, decommissioning of Fukushima-Daiichi Unit1 through Unit4 is promoted diligently. Taking into account JNES's mission with regard to these SA Measures, AMs and decommissioning, movement of improving SA evaluation methodologies inside and outside Japan, and prioritization of subjects based on analyses of sequences of Fukushima-Daiichi NPS accidents, three viewpoints was extracted. These viewpoints were substantiated as the following three groups of R and D subjects: (1) Obtaining near term experimental subjects: Containment venting, Seawater injection, Iodine behaviors. (2) Obtaining mid and long experimental subjects: Fuel damage behavior at early phase of core degradation, Core melting and debris formation. (3) Development of a macroscopic level SA code for plant system behaviors and a mechanistic level code for core melting and debris formation. (author)

Severe accident tests and development of domestic severe accident system codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

According to lessons learned from Fukushima-Daiichi NPS accidents, the safety evaluation will be started based on the NRA's New Safety Standards. In parallel with this movement, reinforcement of Severe Accident (SA) Measures and Accident Managements (AMs) has been undertaken and establishments of relevant regulations and standards are recognized as urgent subjects. Strengthening responses against nuclear plant hazards, as well as realistic protection measures and their standardization is also recognized as urgent subjects. Furthermore, decommissioning of Fukushima-Daiichi Unit1 through Unit4 is promoted diligently. Taking into account JNES's mission with regard to these SA Measures, AMs and decommissioning, movement of improving SA evaluation methodologies inside and outside Japan, and prioritization of subjects based on analyses of sequences of Fukushima-Daiichi NPS accidents, three viewpoints was extracted. These viewpoints were substantiated as the following three groups of R and D subjects: (1) Obtaining near term experimental subjects: Containment venting, Seawater injection, Iodine behaviors. (2) Obtaining mid and long experimental subjects: Fuel damage behavior at early phase of core degradation, Core melting and debris formation. (3) Development of a macroscopic level SA code for plant system behaviors and a mechanistic level code for core melting and debris formation. (author)

Addressing severe accidents in the CANDU 9 design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nijhawan, S.M.; Wight, A.L.; Snell, V.G.

1998-01-01

CANDU 9 is a single-unit evolutionary heavy-water reactor based on the Bruce/Darlington plants. Severe accident issues are being systematically addressed in CANDU 9, which includes a number of unique features for prevention and mitigation of severe accidents. A comprehensive severe accident program has been formulated with feedback from potential clients and the Canadian regulatory agency. Preliminary Probabilistic Safety Analyses have identified the sequences and frequency of system and human failures that may potentially lead to initial conditions indicating onset of severe core damage. Severe accident consequence analyses have used these sequences as a guide to assess passive heat sinks for the core, and containment performance. Estimates of the containment response to mass and energy injections typical of postulated severe accidents have been made and the results are presented. We find that inherent CANDU severe accident mitigation features, such as the presence of large water volumes near the fuel (moderator and shield tank), permit a relatively slow severe accident progression under most plant damage states, facilitate debris coolability and allow ample time for the operator to arrest the progression within, progressively, the fuel channels, calandria vessel or shield tank. The large-volume CANDU 9 containment design complements these features because of the long times to reach failure

Development of severe accident management advisory and training simulator (SAMAT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, K.-S.; Kim, K.-R.; Jung, W.-D.; Ha, J.-J.

2002-01-01

The most operator support systems including the training simulator have been developed to assist the operator and they cover from normal operation to emergency operation. For the severe accident, the overall architecture for severe accident management is being developed in some developed countries according to the development of severe accident management guidelines which are the skeleton of severe accident management architecture. In Korea, the severe accident management guideline for KSNP was recently developed and it is expected to be a central axis of logical flow for severe accident management. There are a lot of uncertainties in the severe accident phenomena and scenarios and one of the major issues for developing a operator support system for a severe accident is the reduction of these uncertainties. In this paper, the severe accident management advisory system with training simulator, SAMAT, is developed as all available information for a severe accident are re-organized and provided to the management staff in order to reduce the uncertainties. The developed system includes the graphical display for plant and equipment status, the previous research results by knowledge-base technique, and the expected plant behavior using the severe accident training simulator. The plant model used in this paper is oriented to severe accident phenomena and thus can simulate the plant behavior for a severe accident. Therefore, the developed system may make a central role of the information source for decision-making for a severe accident management, and will be used as the training simulator for severe accident management

Severe accident management. Optimized guidelines and strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braun, Matthias; Löffler, Micha; Plank, Hermann; Asse, Dietmar; Dimmelmeier, Harald

2014-01-01

The highest priority for mitigating the consequences of a severe accident with core melt lies in securing containment integrity, as this represents the last barrier against fission product release to the environment. Containment integrity is endangered by several physical phenomena, especially highly transient phenomena following high-pressure reactor pressure vessel failure (like direct containment heating or steam explosions which can lead to early containment failure), hydrogen combustion, quasi-static over-pressure, temperature failure of penetrations, and basemat penetration by core melt. Each of these challenges can be counteracted by dedicated severe accident mitigation hardware, like dedicated primary circuit depressurization valves, hydrogen recombiners or igniters, filtered containment venting, containment cooling systems, and core melt stabilization systems (if available). However, besides their main safety function these systems often have also secondary effects that need to be considered. Filtered containment venting causes (though limited) fission product release into the environment, primary circuit depressurization leads to loss of coolant, and an ex-vessel core melt stabilization system as well as hydrogen igniters can generate high pressure and temperature loads on the containment. To ensure that during a severe accident any available systems are used to their full beneficial extent while minimizing their potential negative impact, AREVA has implemented a severe accident management for German nuclear power plants. This concept makes use of extensive numerical simulations of the entire plant, quantifying the impact of system activations (operational systems, safety systems, as well as dedicated severe accident systems) on the accident progression for various scenarios. Based on the knowledge gained, a handbook has been developed, allowing the plant operators to understand the current state of the plant (supported by computational aids), to predict

A CANDU Severe Accident Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negut, Gheorghe; Catana, Alexandru; Prisecaru, Ilie

2006-01-01

As interest in severe accident studies has increased in the last years, we have developed a set of simple models to analyze severe accidents for CANDU reactors that should be integrated in the EU codes. The CANDU600 reactor uses natural uranium fuel and heavy water (D2O) as both moderator and coolant, with the moderator and coolant in separate systems. We chose to analyze accident development for a LOCA with simultaneous loss of moderator cooling and the loss of emergency core cooling system (ECCS). This type of accident is likely to modify the reactor geometry and will lead to a severe accident development. When the coolant temperatures inside a pressure tube reaches 10000 deg C, a contact between pressure tube and calandria tube occurs and the residual heat is transferred to the moderator. Due to the lack of cooling, the moderator eventually begins to boil and is expelled, through the calandria vessel relief ducts, into the containment. Therefore the calandria tubes (fuel channels) will be uncovered, then will disintegrate and fall down to the calandria vessel bottom. After all the quantity of moderator is vaporized and expelled, the debris will heat up and eventually boil. The heat accumulated in the molten debris will be transferred through the calandria vessel wall to the shield tank water, which normally surrounds the calandria vessel. The phenomena described above are modelled, analyzed and compared with the existing data. The results are encouraging. (authors)

PWR-related integral safety experiments in the PKL 111 test facility SBLOCA under beyond-design-basis accident conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weber, P.; Umminger, K.J.; Schoen, B. [Siemens AG Power Generation Group (KWU), Erlangen (France)

1995-09-01

The thermal hydraulic behavior of a PWR during beyond-design-basis accident scenarios is of vital interest for the verification and optimization of accident management procedures. Within the scope of the German reactor safety research program experiments were performed in the volumetrically scaled PKL 111 test facility by Siemens/KWU. This highly instrumented test rig simulates a KWU-design PWR (1300 MWe). In particular, the latest tests performed related to a SBLOCA with additional system failures, e.g. nitrogen entering the primary system. In the case of a SBLOCA, it is the goal of the operator to put the plant in a condition where the decay heat can be removed first using the low pressure emergency core cooling system and then the residual heat removal system. The experimental investigation presented assumed the following beyond-design-basis accident conditions: 0.5% break in a cold leg, 2 of 4 steam generators (SGs) isolated on the secondary side (feedwater- and steam line-valves closed), filled with steam on the primary side, cooldown of the primary system using the remaining two steam generators, high pressure injection system only in the two loops with intact steam generators, if possible no operator actions to reach the conditions for residual heat removal system activation. Furthermore, it was postulated that 2 of the 4 hot leg accumulators had a reduced initial water inventory (increased nitrogen inventory), allowing nitrogen to enter the primary system at a pressure of 15 bar and nearly preventing the heat transfer in the SGs ({open_quotes}passivating{close_quotes} U-tubes). Due to this the heat transfer regime in the intact steam generators changed remarkably. The primary system showed self-regulating system effects and heat transfer improved again (reflux-condenser mode in the U-tube inlet region).

TASAC a computer program for thermal analysis of severe accident conditions. Version 3/01, Dec 1991. Model description and user's guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stempniewicz, M.; Marks, P.; Salwa, K.

1992-06-01

TASAC (Thermal Analysis of Severe Accident Conditions) is computer code developed in the Institute of Atomic Energy written in FORTRAN 77 for the digital computer analysis of PWR rod bundle behaviour during severe accident conditions. The code has the ability to model an early stage of core degradation including heat transfer inside the rods, convective and radiative heat exchange as well as cladding interactions with coolant and fuel, hydrogen generation, melting, relocations and refreezing of fuel rod materials with dissolution of UO 2 and ZrO 2 in liquid phase. The code was applied for the simulation of International Standard Problem number 28, performed on PHEBUS test facility. This report contains the program physical models description, detailed description of input data requirements and results of code verification. The main directions for future TASAC code development are formulated. (author). 20 refs, 39 figs, 4 tabs

Light water reactor severe accident seminar. Seminar presentation manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The topics covered in this manual on LWR severe accidents were: Evolution of Source Term Definition and Analysis, Current Position on Severe Accident Phenomena, Current Position on Fission Product Behavior, Overview of Software Models Used in Severe Accident Analysis, Overview of Plant Specific Source Terms and Their Impact on Risk, Current Applications of Severe Accident Analysis, and Future plans

Light water reactor severe accident seminar. Seminar presentation manual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-07-01

The topics covered in this manual on LWR severe accidents were: Evolution of Source Term Definition and Analysis, Current Position on Severe Accident Phenomena, Current Position on Fission Product Behavior, Overview of Software Models Used in Severe Accident Analysis, Overview of Plant Specific Source Terms and Their Impact on Risk, Current Applications of Severe Accident Analysis, and Future plans.

Possibilities of hydrogen removal. Phase 2: Limitation of hydrogen effects in hypothetical severe accidents in PWR reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langer, G.; Koehling, A.; Nikodem, H.

1984-01-01

In the event of hypothetical severe accidents in light-water reactors, considerable amounts of hydrogen may be produced and released into the containment. Combustion of the hydrogen may jeopardize the integrity of the containment. The study reported here aimed to identify methods to mitigate the hydrogen problem. These methods should either prevent hydrogen combustion, or limit its effects. The following methods have been investigated: pre-inerting; chemical oxygen absorption; removal of oxygen by combustion; post-inerting with N 2 , CO 2 , or halon; aqueous foam; water fog; deliberate ignition; containment purging; and containment venting. The present state of the art in both nuclear and non-nuclear facilities, has been identified. The assessment of the methods was based on accident scenarios assuming significant release of hydrogen and the spectrum of requirements derived from these scenarios was used to determine the advantages and drawbacks of the various methods, assuming their application in a pressurized water reactor of German design. (orig./RW) [de

Best-estimate analysis of a loss-of-coolant accident in a four-loop US PWR using TRAC-PD2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ireland, J.R.

1982-01-01

A 200-percent double-ended cold-leg break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a typical US pressurized water reactor (PWR) was simulated using the Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC-PD2). The reactor system modeled represented a typical US PWR with four loops (three intact, one broken) and cold-leg emergency-core-cooling systems (ECCS). The finely noded TRAC model employed 440 three dimensional (r, THETA, z) vessel cells along with approximately 300 one-dimensional cells that modeled the primary system loops. The calculated peak-clad temperature of 950 0 K occurred during blowdown and the clad temperature excursion was terminated at 175 s, when complete core quenching occurred. Accumulator flows were initiated at 10 s, when the system pressure reached 4.08 MPa, and the refill phase ended at 36 s when the lower plenum refilled. During reflood, both bottom and falling film quench fronts were calculated

Use of simulators in severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, R.C.

1994-01-01

The U.S. nuclear utility industry is moving in a deliberate fashion through a coordinated industry severe accident working group to study and augment, where appropriate, the existing utility organizational and emergency planning structure to address accident and severe accident management. Full-scope simulators are used extensively to train licensed operators for their initial license examinations and continually thereafter in licensed operator requalification training and yearly examinations. The goal of the training (both initial and requalification) is to ensure that operators possess adequate knowledge, skills and abilities to prevent an event from progressing to core damage. The use of full-scope simulators in severe accident management training is in large part viewed by the industry as being premature. The working group study has not progressed to the point where the decision to employ full-scope simulators can be logically considered. It is not however premature to consider part-task or work station simulators as invaluable research tools to support the industry's study. These simulators could be employed, subject to limitations in the current state of knowledge regarding severe accident progression and phenomenological responses, in the validation and verification (V and V) of severe accident models or codes as they are developed. The U.S. nuclear utility industry has made substantial strides in the past 12 years in the accident prevention, mitigation and management arena. These strides are a product of the industry's preference for a logical and systematic approach to change. (orig.)

A review of severe accident assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawashima, Kei

2000-01-01

One of the most difficult problems on evaluation of external costs on nuclear power generation is value on a severe accident risk. Once forming a severe accident, its effect is very important and extends to a wide range, to give a lot of damages. It is a main area of study on externality of energy to compare various risks by means of price conversion at unit kWh. Here was outlined on research examples on main severe accident risks before then. A common fact on estimation cost such research examples is to limit it to direct cost (mainly to health damage) at accident phenomenon. As an actual problem, it is very difficult to substantially quantify such parameters because of basically belonging to social psychology. It is due to no finding out decisive evaluation method on this problem to be adopted conventional EED (Expert Expected Damages) approach in the ExternE Phase III, either. (G.K.)

Study Of Severe Accident Phenomena In Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyanto; Antariksawan; Anhar, R.; Arifal

2001-01-01

Several phenomena that occurred in the light water reactor type of nuclear power plant during severe accident were studied. The study was carried out based on the results of severe accident researches in various countries. In general, severe accident phenomena can be classified into in-vessel phenomena, retention in the reactor coolant system, and ex-vessel phenomena. In-vessel retention has been recommended as a severe accident management strategy

Strategies for the prevention and mitigation of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ader, C.; Heusener, G.; Snell, V.G.

1999-01-01

The currently operating nuclear power plants have, in general, achieved a high level of safety, as a result of design philosophies that have emphasized concepts such as defense-in-depth. This type of an approach has resulted in plants that have robust designs and strong containments. These designs were later found to have capabilities to protect the public from severe accidents (accidents more severe than traditional design basis in which substantial damage is done to the reactor core). In spite of this high level of safety, it has also been recognized that future plants need to be designed to achieve an enhanced level of safety, in particular with respect to severe accidents. This has led both regulatory authorities and utilities to develop guidance and/or requirements to guide plant designers in achieving improved severe accident performance through prevention and mitigation. The considerable research programs initiated after the TMI-2 accident have provided a large body of technical data, analytical methods, and the expertise necessary to provide for an understanding of a range of severe accident phenomena. This understanding of the ways severe accidents can progress and challenge containments, combined with the wide use of probabilistic safety assessments, have provided designers of evolutionary water cooled reactors opportunities to develop designs that minimize the challenges to the plant and to the public from severe accidents, including the development of accident management strategies intended to further reduce the risk of severe accidents. This paper describes some of the recent progress made in the understanding of severe accidents and related safety assessment methodology and how this knowledge has supported the incorporation of features into representative evolutionary designs that will prevent or mitigate many of the severe accident challenges present in current plants. (author)

Development and assessment of ASTEC code for severe accident simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Dorsselaere, J.P.; Pignet, S.; Seropian, C.; Montanelli, T.; Giordano, P.; Jacq, F.; Schwinges, B.

2005-01-01

Full text of publication follows: The ASTEC integral code, jointly developed by IRSN and GRS since several years for evaluation of source term during a severe accident (SA) in a Light Water Reactor, will play a central role in the SARNET network of excellence of the 6. Framework Programme (FwP) of the European Commission which started in spring 2004. It should become the reference European SA integral code in the next years. The version V1.1, released in June 2004, allows to model most of the main physical phenomena (except steam explosion) near or at the state of the art. In order to allow to study a great number of scenarios, a compromise must be found between precision of results and calculation time: one day of accident time usually takes less than one day of real time to be simulated on a PC computer. Important efforts are being made on validation by covering more than 30 reference experiments, often International Standard Problems from OECD (CORA, LOFT, PACTEL, BETA, VANAM, ACE-RTF, Phebus.FPT1...). The code is also used for the detailed interpretation of all the integral Phebus.FP experiments. Eighteen European partners performed a first independent evaluation of the code capabilities in 2000-03 within the frame of the EVITA 5. FwP project on one hand by comparison to experiments and on another hand by benchmarking with MAAP4 and MELCOR integral codes on plant applications on PWR and VVER. Their main conclusions were the needs of improvement of code robustness (especially the 2 new modules CESAR and DIVA simulating respectively circuit thermal hydraulics and core degradation) and of post-processing tools. Some improvements have already been achieved in the latest version V 1.1 on these two aspects. A new module MEDICIS devoted to Molten Core Concrete Interaction (MCCI) is implemented in this version, with a tight coupling to the containment thermal hydraulics module CPA. The paper presents a detailed analysis of a TMLB sequence on a French 900 MWe PWR, from

Analysis of severe accidents in pressurized heavy water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-06-01

Certain very low probability plant states that are beyond design basis accident conditions and which may arise owing to multiple failures of safety systems leading to significant core degradation may jeopardize the integrity of many or all the barriers to the release of radioactive material. Such event sequences are called severe accidents. It is required in the IAEA Safety Requirements publication on Safety of the Nuclear Power Plants: Design, that consideration be given to severe accident sequences, using a combination of engineering judgement and probabilistic methods, to determine those sequences for which reasonably practicable preventive or mitigatory measures can be identified. Acceptable measures need not involve the application of conservative engineering practices used in setting and evaluating design basis accidents, but rather should be based on realistic or best estimate assumptions, methods and analytical criteria. Recently, the IAEA developed a Safety Report on Approaches and Tools for Severe Accident Analysis. This publication provides a description of factors important to severe accident analysis, an overview of severe accident phenomena and the current status in their modelling, categorization of available computer codes, and differences in approaches for various applications of severe accident analysis. The report covers both the in- and ex-vessel phases of severe accidents. The publication is consistent with the IAEA Safety Report on Accident Analysis for Nuclear Power Plants and can be considered as a complementary report specifically devoted to the analysis of severe accidents. Although the report does not explicitly differentiate among various reactor types, it has been written essentially on the basis of available knowledge and databases developed for light water reactors. Therefore its application is mostly oriented towards PWRs and BWRs and, to a more limited extent, they can be only used as preliminary guidance for other types of reactors

Application of FFTBM to severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prosek, A.; Leskovar, M.

2005-01-01

In Europe an initiative for the reduction of uncertainties in severe accident safety issues was initiated. Generally, the error made in predicting plant behaviour is called uncertainty, while the discrepancies between measured and calculated trends related to experimental facilities are called the accuracy of the prediction. The purpose of the work is to assess the accuracy of the calculations of the severe accident International Standard Problem ISP-46 (Phebus FPT1), performed with two versions of MELCOR 1.8.5 for validation purposes. For the quantitative assessment of calculations the improved fast Fourier transform based method (FFTBM) was used with the capability to calculate time dependent code accuracy. In addition, a new measure for the indication of the time shift between the experimental and the calculated signal was proposed. The quantitative results obtained with FFTBM confirm the qualitative conclusions made during the Jozef Stefan Institute participation in ISP-46. In general good agreement of thermal-hydraulic variables and satisfactory agreement of total releases for most radionuclide classes was obtained. The quantitative FFTBM results showed that for the Phebus FPT1 severe accident experiment the accuracy of thermal-hydraulic variables calculated with the MELCOR severe accident code is close to the accuracy of thermal-hydraulic variables for design basis accident experiments calculated with best-estimate system codes. (author)

Development of a severe accident training simulator using a MELCOR code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ko Ryu; Jeong, Kwang Sub; Ha, Jae Joo; Jung, Won Dae

2002-03-01

Nuclear power plants' severe accidents are, despite of their rareness, very important in safety aspects, because of their huge damages when occurred. For the appropriate execution of severe accident strategy, more information for decision-making are required because of the uncertainties included in severe accidents. Earlier NRC raised concerns over severe accident training in the report NUREC/CR-477, and accordingly, developing effective training tools for severe accident were emphasized. In fact the training tools were requested from industrial area, nevertheless, few training tools were developed due to the uncertainties in severe accidents, lacks of analysis computer codes and technical limitations. SATS, the severe accident training simulator, is developed as a multi-purpose tools for severe accident training. SATS uses the calculation results of MELCOR, an integral severe accident analysis code, and with the help of SL-GMS graphic tools, provides dynamic displays of severe accident phenomena on the terminal of IBM PC. It aimed to have two main features: one is to provide graphic displays to represent severe accident phenomena and the other is to process and simulate severe accident strategy given by plant operators and TSC staffs. Severe accident strategies are basically composed of series of operations of available pumps, valves and other equipments. Whenever executing strategies with SATS, the trainee should follow the HyperKAMG, the on line version of the recently developed severe accident guidance (KAMG). Severe accident strategies are closely related to accidents scenarios. TLOFW and LOCA , two representative severe accident scenarios of Uljin 3,4, are developed as a built-in scenarios of SATS. Although SATS has some minor problems at this time, we expect SATS will be a good severe accident training tool after the appropriate addition of accident scenarios. Moreover, we also expect SATS will be a good advisory tool for the severe accident research

Transuranics and fission products release from PWR fuels in severe accident conditions. Lessons learnt from VERCORS RT3 and RT4 tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pontillon, Y.; Ducros, G.; Van Winckel, S.; Christiansen, B.; Kissane, M.P.; Dubourg, R.; Dutheillet, Y.; Andreo, F.

2006-01-01

Over the last decades, several experimental programs devoted to the source term of fission products (FP) and actinides released from PWR fuel samples in severe accident (SA) conditions have been initiated throughout the world. In France, in this context, the Institute for Radiological Protection and Safety (IRSN) and Electricite de France (EDF) have supported the analytical VERCORS program which was performed by the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA). The VERCORS facility at the LAMA-laboratory (CEA-Grenoble, France) was designed to heat up an irradiated fuel sample - taken from EDF's nuclear power reactors - to fuel relocation, and to capture the fission products released from the fuel and deposited downstream on a series of specific filters (impactors, bead-bed filter). On-line gamma detectors aimed at the fuel position, filters and gas capacity monitored the progress of FP release from the fuel, FP deposition on the filters and the fission gases emitted by the fuel (xenon and krypton). Before and after the test, a longitudinal gamma-scan of the fuel was conducted to measure the initial and final FP inventory in order to evaluate the quantitative fractions of FP emitted by the fuel during the test. All the components of the loop were then gamma-scanned to measure and locate the FPs released during the test and to draw up a mass balance of these FP. 25 annealing tests were performed between 1983 and 2002 on irradiated PWR fuels under various conditions of temperature and atmospheres (oxidising or reducing conditions). The influence of the nature of the fuel (UO 2 versus MOX, burn up) and the fuel morphology (initially intact or fragmented fuel) have also been investigated. This led to an extended data base allowing on the one hand to study mechanisms which promote FP release in SA conditions, and on the other hand to enhance models implemented in SA codes. Because gamma spectrometry is well suited to FP measurement and not to actinides (except neptunium

Severe accident management program at Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borondo, L.; Serrano, C.; Fiol, M.J.; Sanchez, A.

2000-01-01

Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant (GE BWR/6) has implemented its specific Severe Accident Management Program within this year 2000. New organization and guides have been developed to successfully undertake the management of a severe accident. In particular, the Technical Support Center will count on a new ''Severe Accident Management Team'' (SAMT) which will be in charge of the Severe Accident Guides (SAG) when Control Room Crew reaches the Emergency Operation Procedures (EOP) step that requires containment flooding. Specific tools and training have also been developed to help the SAMT to mitigate the accident. (author)

SEVERE ACCIDENT ISSUES RAISED BY THE FUKUSHIMA ACCIDENT AND IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED

OpenAIRE

SONG, JIN HO; KIM, TAE WOON

2014-01-01

This paper revisits the Fukushima accident to draw lessons in the aspect of nuclear safety considering the fact that the Fukushima accident resulted in core damage for three nuclear power plants simultaneously and that there is a high possibility of a failure of the integrity of reactor vessel and primary containment vessel. A brief review on the accident progression at Fukushima nuclear power plants is discussed to highlight the nature and characteristic of the event. As the severe accide...

TASAC a computer program for thermal analysis of severe accident conditions. Version 3/01, Dec 1991. Model description and user`s guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stempniewicz, M; Marks, P; Salwa, K

1992-06-01

TASAC (Thermal Analysis of Severe Accident Conditions) is computer code developed in the Institute of Atomic Energy written in FORTRAN 77 for the digital computer analysis of PWR rod bundle behaviour during severe accident conditions. The code has the ability to model an early stage of core degradation including heat transfer inside the rods, convective and radiative heat exchange as well as cladding interactions with coolant and fuel, hydrogen generation, melting, relocations and refreezing of fuel rod materials with dissolution of UO{sub 2} and ZrO{sub 2} in liquid phase. The code was applied for the simulation of International Standard Problem number 28, performed on PHEBUS test facility. This report contains the program physical models description, detailed description of input data requirements and results of code verification. The main directions for future TASAC code development are formulated. (author). 20 refs, 39 figs, 4 tabs.

NPP Krsko Severe Accident Management Guidelines Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mihalina, Mario; Spalj, Srdjan; Glaser, Bruno; Jalovec, Robi; Jankovic, Gordan

2014-01-01

Nuclear Power Plant Krsko (NEK) has decided to take steps for upgrade of safety measures to prevent severe accidents, and to improve the means to successfully mitigate their consequences. The content of the program for the NEK Safety Upgrade is consistent with the nuclear industry response to Fukushima accident, which revealed many new insights into severe accidents. Therefore, new strategies and usage of new systems and components should be integrated into current NEK Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMG's). SAMG's are developed to arrest the progression of a core damage accident and to limit the extent of resulting releases of fission products. NEK new SAMG's revision major changes are made due to: replacement of Electrical Recombiners by Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners (PARs) and the installation of Passive Containment Filtered Vent System (PCFV); to handle a fuel damage situation in Spent Fuel Pool (SFP) and to assess risk of core damage situation during shutdown operation. (authors)

Analysis and research status of severe core damage accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-03-01

The Severe Core Damage Research and Analysis Task Force was established in Nuclear Safety Research Center, Tokai Research Establishment, JAERI, in May, 1982 to make a quantitative analysis on the issues related with the severe core damage accident and also to survey the present status of the research and provide the required research subjects on the severe core damage accident. This report summarizes the results of the works performed by the Task Force during last one and half years. The main subjects investigated are as follows; (1) Discussion on the purposes and necessities of severe core damage accident research, (2) proposal of phenomenological research subjects required in Japan, (3) analysis of severe core damage accidents and identification of risk dominant accident sequences, (4) investigation of significant physical phenomena in severe core damage accidents, and (5) survey of the research status. (author)

Design and Development of a Severe Accident Training System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ko Ryu; Park, Sun Hee; Kim, Dong Ha

2005-01-01

The nuclear plants' severe accidents have two big characteristics. One is that they are very rare accidents, and the other is that they bring extreme conditions such as the high pressure and temperature in their process. It is, therefore, very hard to get the severe accident data, without inquiring that the data should be real or experimental. In fact, most of severe accident analyses rely on the simulation codes where almost all severe accident knowledge is contained. These codes are, however, programmed by the Fortran language, so that their output are typical text files which are very complicated. To avoid this kind of difficulty in understanding the code output data, several kinds of graphic user interface (GUI) programs could be developed. In this paper, we will introduce a GUI system for severe accident management and training, partly developed and partly in design stage

Radiological objectives and severe accident mitigation strategy for the generation II PWRs in France in the framework of PLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cenerino, G.; Dubreuil, M.; Raimond, E.; Pichereau, F.

2012-01-01

In France, EDF is involved in the construction of a first generation III (Gen III) reactor (European Pressurized Reactor - EPR) on Flamanville site next to two PWRs. Plant Life Extension (PLE) of reactors will consequently lead to simultaneous operation of Gen III and Gen II reactors during a long period of time. As a consequence, EDF was requested by the French Nuclear Safety Authority to prepare a PWR life management program including, in addition to an ageing management of Systems, Structures and Components, a consequent reactor safety enhancement program. The objective was stated to EDF by the French Nuclear Safety Authority: 'the safety objectives of the Gen III reactors should be used as a reference for all studies undertaken in the frame of PLE'. One part of the EDF program deals with additional arrangements able to reduce more drastically the consequences of any accident. The relevance, according to IRSN, of the EDF radiological objectives for Design Basis Accidents, of the new EDF objectives for Severe Accidents (SA) and of the EDF potential modifications for SA mitigation are presented. (author)

Airborne concentrations of radioactive materials in severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross, D.F. Jr.; Denning, R.S.

1989-01-01

Radioactive materials would be released to the containment building of a commercial nuclear reactor during each of the stages of a severe accident. Results of analyses of two accident sequences are used to illustrate the magnitudes of these sources of radioactive materials, the resulting airborne mass concentrations, the characteristics of the airborne aerosols, the potential for vapor forms of radioactive materials, the effectiveness of engineered safety features in reducing airborne concentrations, and the release of radioactive materials to the environment. Ability to predict transport and deposition of radioactive materials is important to assessing the performance of containment safety features in severe accidents and in the development of accident management procedures to reduce the consequences of severe accidents

Nuclear criticality safety analysis for the traveller PWR fuel shipping package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vescovi, P.J.; Kent, N.A.; Casado, C.A. [Westinghouse Electric Co., LLC, Columbia, SC (United States)]|[ENUSA Industrias Avanzadas SA, Madrid (Spain)

2004-07-01

The Traveller PWR fresh fuel shipping package represents a radical departure from conventional PWR fuel package designs. Two immediately noticeable features of the Traveller are that it carries a single fuel assembly instead of two as do other package designs, and that it has built-in moderator, which forms part of the flux-trap system. The criticality safety case shows that the Traveller satisfies both U.S. and IAEA licensing requirements, and demonstrates that the package remains acceptably subcritical under normal conditions and hypothetical accident conditions of transport. This paper looks at the modeling techniques that were used to analyze the several accident scenarios that were considered, including: Lattice pitch expansion; Lattice pitch expansion along the fuel assembly length; Preferential flooding (selective flooding of different cavities); Differential flooding (varying water levels inside different cavities); Partial flooding (varying water density); Axial rod displacement; o Sensitivity studies of variable foam densities and boron content in packaging; Analysis for carrying loose rods in a rodbox; The criticality safety case for the Traveller proved to be a successful cooperative effort between ENUSA and Westinghouse.

Nuclear criticality safety analysis for the traveller PWR fuel shipping package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vescovi, P.J.; Kent, N.A.; Casado, C.A.

2004-01-01

The Traveller PWR fresh fuel shipping package represents a radical departure from conventional PWR fuel package designs. Two immediately noticeable features of the Traveller are that it carries a single fuel assembly instead of two as do other package designs, and that it has built-in moderator, which forms part of the flux-trap system. The criticality safety case shows that the Traveller satisfies both U.S. and IAEA licensing requirements, and demonstrates that the package remains acceptably subcritical under normal conditions and hypothetical accident conditions of transport. This paper looks at the modeling techniques that were used to analyze the several accident scenarios that were considered, including: Lattice pitch expansion; Lattice pitch expansion along the fuel assembly length; Preferential flooding (selective flooding of different cavities); Differential flooding (varying water levels inside different cavities); Partial flooding (varying water density); Axial rod displacement; o Sensitivity studies of variable foam densities and boron content in packaging; Analysis for carrying loose rods in a rodbox; The criticality safety case for the Traveller proved to be a successful cooperative effort between ENUSA and Westinghouse

Study of a loss of coolant accident of a PWR reactor through a Full Scope Simulator and computational code RELAP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, Alexandre de Souza

2014-01-01

The present paper proposes a study of a loss of coolant accident of a PWR reactor through a Full Scope Simulator and computational code RELAP. To this end, it considered a loss of coolant accident with 160 cm 2 breaking area in cold leg of 20 circuit of the reactor cooling system of nuclear power plant Angra 2, with the reactor operating in stationary condition, to 100% power. It considered that occurred at the same time the loss of External Power Supply and the availability of emergency cooling system was not full. The results obtained are quite relevant and with the possibility of being used in the planning of future activities, given that the construction of Angra 3 is underway and resembles the Angra 2. (author)

Evaluation of heatup and recovery in a loss of feedwater accident with multiple failure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bang, Young Seok; Seul, Kwang Won; Kim, Hho Jung

1991-01-01

A loss of feedwater accident with multiple failure has been studied in order to identify the potential severity of the accident when compared with the design basis accident in PWR. The PCS heatup and recovery mode in a LOFA with multiple failure was evaluated using the LOFT L9-1/L3-3 experiment. From experimental result, 4 separable subphase were identified and the associated phenomena were also addressed

Development of severe accident guidance module for the SATS simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K.R.; Park, S.H.; Kim, D.H.; Song, Y.M.

2004-01-01

Recently KAERI has developed the severe accident management guidance to establish Korea standard severe accident management system. On the other hand the PC-based severe accident training simulator SATS has been developed, which uses MELCOR code as the simulation engine. SATS graphically displays and simulates the severe accidents with interactive user commands. The control capability of SATS could make severe accident training course more interesting and effective. In this paper we will describe the development and functions of the electrical hypertext guidance module HyperKAMG and the SATS-HyperKAMG linkage system for the severe accident management. (author)

Design features of ACR in severe accident mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapiro, H.; Krishnan, V.S.; Santamaura, P.; Lekakh, B.; Blahnik, C.

2007-01-01

New reactor designs require the evaluation of design alternatives to reduce the radiological risk by preventing severe accidents or by limiting releases from the plant in the event of such accidents. The Advanced CANDU Reactor TM (ACR TM ) design has provisions to prevent and mitigate severe accidents. This paper describes key ACR design features for severe accident mitigation. It provides a high-level overview of the findings to date. Several design provisions have not yet been finalized or decided, but the designers are keenly aware of the SAM concepts and their requirements. The active heat sinks for 'vessels' (i.e., the fuel channels, the calandria vessel, the calandria end-shields and the calandria vault) are all amply capable of dissipating the severe accident heat loads. These heat sinks are designed to be operable under severe accident environmental conditions; however, their operability is yet to be confirmed by assessments. The active heat sinks for the various process vessels are 'backed up' by passive heat sinks (i.e., steaming plus water make-up from the RWS). The supply side of passive heat sinks is simple, rugged, and not vulnerable to failures of plant systems. The importance of the steam relief side is recognized, and the adequate relief capacity will be provided. The passive heat sinks will give the SAM more than 1 day (likely several days) to diagnose the accident and to establish the ultimate heat sinks. The spray system for containment pressure suppression is designed for high reliability and has ample capacity to ensure low containment leakage without external intervention, after which time alternative supply to the sprays can be brought on line manually. The sprays are backed up by the LACs which are assessed for operability following a severe accident. The strong ACR containment will provide a long time of completely passive protection for any severe accident at decay power. Its characteristics are not prone to catastrophic failures. The

Severe accident issue resolution -- definition and perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harper, F.T.

1995-01-01

The purpose of this discussion is to introduce the session on the Progress on the Resolution of Severe Accident Issues. There has been much work in the area of resolution of severe accident issues over the past few years. This work has been focused on those issues most important to risk as assessed by comprehensive studies such as NUREG-1150. In particular, issues associated with early containment failure have been analyzed. These efforts to resolve issues have been hampered by the fact that open-quotes issue resolutionclose quotes has not always been well defined. The term open-quotes issue resolutionclose quotes conjures tip different images for the regulator, the accident analyst, the physicist, and the probabalist. In fact it is common to have as many different images of issue resolution as there are people in the room. This issue is complicated by the fact that the uncertainty in severe accident issues is enormous. (When convolved, the quantitative uncertainty in an integrated analysis due to severe accident issues can span several orders of magnitude.) In this summary, hierarchy is presented in an attempt to add some perspective to the resolution of issues in the face of large uncertainties. Recommendations are also made for analysts communicating in the area of issue resolution

Occupational Radiation Protection in Severe Accident Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

As an early response to the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident, the Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) Bureau decided to focus on the following issues as an initial response of the joint program after having direct communications with the Japanese official participants in April 2011: - Management of high radiation area worker doses: It has been decided to make available the experience and information from the Chernobyl accident in terms of how emergency worker / responder doses were legally and practically managed, - Personal protective equipment for highly-contaminated areas: It was agreed to collect information about the types of personnel protective equipment and other equipment (e.g. air bottles, respirators, air-hoods or plastic suits, etc.), as well as high-radiation area worker dosimetry use (e.g. type, number and placement of dosimetry) for different types of emergency and high-radiation work situations. Detailed information was collected on dose criteria which are used for emergency workers /responders and their basis, dose management criteria for high dose/dose rate areas, protective equipment which is recommended for emergency workers / responders, recommended individual monitoring procedures, and any special requirement for assessment from the ISOE participating nuclear utilities and regulatory authorities and made available for Japanese utilities. With this positive response of the ISOE official participants and interest in the situation in Fukushima, the Expert Group on Occupational Radiation Protection in Severe Accident Management (EG-SAM) was established by the ISOE Management Board in May 2011. The overall objective of the EG-SAM is to contribute to occupational exposure management (providing a view on management of high radiation area worker doses) within the Fukushima plant boundary with the ISOE participants and to develop a state-of-the-art ISOE report on best radiation protection management practices for proper radiation

Safety against releases in severe accidents. Annual report 1996. Project plan 1997; Saekerhet mot utslaepp vid reaktorhaverier. Aarsrapport 1996. Plans 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-01-01

The work scope of the RAK-2 project is divided into three sub-projects: RAK-2.1 Severe Accident Phenomenology; RAK-2.2 Computerised Accident Management; RAK-2.3 Reactors In Nordic Surroundings. The work in subproject 1 progresses roughly according to budget and time schedule. Some adjustments in the technical work scope were made during 1996. Main tasks of RAK-2.1 in 1996: Complete recriticality studies for Nordic BWRs; Investigate phenomena related to late phase melt progression; Issue and NKS Final Technical Report on KTH experiments. Main tasks of RAK-2.2 in 1996: CAMS would be further developed with signal validation, tracking simulation, state identification and PSA and risk monitoring applications; Carry out a feasibility study for development of a PWR version of CAMS in collaboration with EdF, France; Use CAMS in the Halden Man-Machine laboratory to perform human factor studies. Main tasks of RAK-2.3 in 1996: Collect and report data from the British reactor types AGR, MAGNOX and PWR; Make a report on accidents in nuclear ships; Put the collected data together in a common data base covering neighbour reactors treated in SIK-3 and RAK-2.3; Update the data in the former SIK-3 report if needed. The work in project 2 progresses according to plans. The data collection of British reactors with in sub-project 3 has been delayed significantly due to difficulty of obtaining information from some of the British utilities, but the problems are expected to be solved by the end of 1997. (EG).

Severe Accident Test Station Activity Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pint, Bruce A [ORNL; Terrani, Kurt A [ORNL

2015-06-01

Enhancing safety margins in light water reactor (LWR) severe accidents is currently the focus of a number of international R&D programs. The current UO2/Zr-based alloy fuel system is particularly susceptible since the Zr-based cladding experiences rapid oxidation kinetics in steam at elevated temperatures. Therefore, alternative cladding materials that offer slower oxidation kinetics and a smaller enthalpy of oxidation can significantly reduce the rate of heat and hydrogen generation in the core during a coolant-limited severe accident. In the U.S. program, the high temperature steam oxidation performance of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding solutions has been evaluated in the Severe Accident Test Station (SATS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) since 2012. This report summarizes the capabilities of the SATS and provides an overview of the oxidation kinetics of several candidate cladding materials. A suggested baseline for evaluating ATF candidates is a two order of magnitude reduction in the steam oxidation resistance above 1000ºC compared to Zr-based alloys. The ATF candidates are categorized based on the protective external oxide or scale that forms during exposure to steam at high temperature: chromia, alumina, and silica. Comparisons are made to literature and SATS data for Zr-based alloys and other less-protective materials.

OSSA. A second generation of severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauvage, E.C.; Musoyan, G.; Ducros, V.D.

2009-01-01

Nowadays the severe accident and their management are an integrated part of the new generation of power plants. The EPR, as the third generation of nuclear plants, includes both systems and instrumentation to mitigate a severe accident, but also a new generation of severe accident management guidelines: the OSSA. Severe accident management guidelines are highly dependent on human means available: emergency organization actors, training and knowledge shall be taken in consideration in an innovative way. Their impacts on ergonomy and content of the document lead to a new generation of guidelines with several innovative features. This second generation of severe accident management guidelines was developed in parallel with the PSA level 2, the human reliability analyses, the validation and verification process, the severe accident simulator progresses. By taking in consideration this variety of input the OSSA were developed in a user aspect orientation. For example in the OSSA a larger responsibility is given to the operational crew to better support the technical support group evaluation. Their existing knowledge of the plant and of the systems and instrumentation is used. This collaboration work implies a strong communication tool that has been developed to enhance the permanent communication within the emergency organization, but although to ensure the main up-to-date information for evaluation will be available where required. The entry condition is based on a strong and stand alone diagnostic for all plant states, that uses in particular a curve of core exit temperature as a function of primary pressure for a fixed core cladding temperature, or its equivalent in term of containment conditions. It ensures relatively consistent core conditions on entry. A first criterion for ultimate final primary depressurization is provided, ensuring all attempts to reflood the core with the available means have been ensured before the OSSA entry condition is reached. This

Interaction of radionuclides in severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagrale, Dhanesh B.; Bera, Subrata; Deo, Anuj Kumar; Paul, U.K.; Prasad, M.; Gaikwad, A.J.

2015-01-01

Nuclear power plants are designed with inherent engineering safety systems and associated operational procedures that provide an in-depth defence against accidents. Radionuclides such as Iodine, Cesium, Tellurium, Barium, Strontium, Rubidium, Molybdenum and many others may get released during a severe accident. Among these, Iodine, one of the fission products, behaviour is significant for the analysis of severe accident consequences because iodine is a chemically more active to the potential components released to the environment. During severe accident, Iodine is released and transported in aqueous, organic and inorganic forms. Iodine release from fuel, iodine transport in primary coolant system, containment, and reaction with control rods are some of the important phases in a severe accident scenario. The behaviour of iodine is governed by aerosol physics, depletion mechanisms gravitational settling, diffusiophoresis and thermophoresis. The presence of gaseous organic compounds and oxidizing compounds on iodine, reactions of aerosol iodine with boron and formation of cesium iodide which results in more volatile iodine release in containment play significant roles. Water radiolysis products due to presence of dissolved impurities, chloride ions, organic impurities should be considered while calculating iodine release. Containment filtered venting system (CFVS) consists of venturi scrubber and a scrubber tank which is dosed with NaOH and NaS_2O_3 in water where iodine will react with the chemicals and convert into NaI and Na_2SO_4. This paper elaborates the issues with respect to interaction of radionuclides and its consideration in modeling of severe accident. (author)

Calculation of spent fuel pool severe accident with MELCOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Jian; Xiang Qing'an; Zhou Kefeng

2014-01-01

A calculation model was established for spent fuel pool (SFP) using MELCOR code to study the severe accident phenomena caused by the long term station black-out (SBO), including spent fuel heatup, zirconium cladding oxidation, and the injection into SFP to mitigate the severe accident. The results show that the severe accident progression is slow and relates directly with the initial water level in SFP. It is illustrated that the injection into SFP is one of the best mitigated measures for the SFP severe accident. (authors)

Technical basis for PWR emergency plans forming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

L'Homme, A.; Manesse, D.; Gauvain, J.; Crabol, B.

1989-10-01

Our speech first summarizes the french approach concerning the management of severe accidents which could occur on PWR stations. Then it defines the source-term which is being used as a general support for elaborating the emergency plans devoted to the protection of the population. It describes next the consequences of this source-term on the site and in the environment, which constitute the technical bases for defining actions of utilities and concerned authorities. It gives lastly information on the present status of the different emergency plans and the complementary work undertaken to improve them [fr

Strategy-oriented display concept to assist severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Kwangsub; Ha, Jaejoo

2000-01-01

The Critical Function Monitoring System (CFMS) is a typical Safety Parameter Display System (SPDS) to assist the operation of Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plants during normal and emergency operation, and SPDS for severe accident is being developed in Korea. When the existing CFMS is used under a severe accident situation, some problems are expected from: (1) different design basis, i.e. prevention of core melt vs. protection of radiation release to environment, (2) different parameters for decision-making, and (3) different domain and depth of information to restore the plant. To resolve the above problems, a concept, 'Strategy-Oriented Information Display' concept, for displaying information for severe accident management is developed in this paper. Whereas the existing SPDS structure is based on the critical safety function, the developed concept is based on the severe accident management strategy. The display for each strategy includes the plant parameters to check the status of plant and component with the logical or graphical views necessary for executing the strategy. As the application of the proposed concept, KAERI is developing a display system, the prototype severe accident SPDS, Severe Accident Management Display System (SAMDIS), to assist plant personnel for executing Korean Severe Accident Management Guidelines. CFMS is developed for a general display suitable to all situations with various displays. On the contrary, SAMDIS provides all the relevant information on one screen based on the proposed concept. The SAMDIS screen shows more extensive area than CFMS and thus plant personnel can recognize the overall plant status at a glance. This concept is quite effective when used with severe accident management guidelines because of the relatively macroscopic characteristics of a severe accident management strategy. (author)

Consideration of severe accidents in design of advanced WWER reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fedorov, V.G.; Rogov, M.F.; Podshibyakin, A.K.; Fil, N.S.; Volkov, B.E.; Semishkin, V.P.

1998-01-01

Severe accident related requirements formulated in General Regulations for Nuclear Power Plant Safety (OPB-88), in Nuclear Safety Regulations for Nuclear Power Stations' Reactor Plants (PBYa RU AS-89) and in other NPP nuclear and radiation guides of the Russian Gosatomnadzor are analyzed. In accordance with these guides analyses of beyond design basis accidents should be performed in the reactor plant design. Categorization of beyond design basis accidents leading to severe accidents should be made on occurrence probability and severity of consequences. Engineered features and measures intended for severe accident management should be provided in reactor plant design. Requirements for severe accident analyses and for development of measures for severe accident management are determined. Design philosophy and proposed engineered measures for mitigation of severe accidents and decrease of radiation releases are demonstrated using examples of large, WWER-1000 (V-392), and medium size WWER-640 (V-407) reactor plant designs. Mitigation of severe accidents and decrease of radiation releases are supposed to be conducted on basis of consistent realization of the defense in depth concept relating to application of a system of barriers on the path of spreading of ionizing radiation and radioactive materials to the environment and a set of engineered measures protecting these barriers and retaining their effectiveness. Status of fulfilled by OKB Gidropress and other Russian organizations experimental and analytical investigations of severe accident phenomena supporting design decisions and severe accident management procedures is described. Status of the works on retention of core melt inside the WWER-640 reactor vessel is also characterized

Overview of severe accident research at JAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugimoto, Jun

1999-01-01

Severe accident research at JAERI aims at the confirmation of the safety margin, the quantification of the associated risk, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the accident management measures of the nuclear power reactors, in accordance with the government five-year nuclear safety research program. JAERI has been conducting a wide range of severe accident research activities both in experiment and analysis, such as melt coolant interactions, fission product behaviors in coolant system, containment integrity and assessment of accident management measures. Molten core/coolant interaction and in-vessel molten coolability have been investigated in ALPHA Program. MUSE experiments in ALPHA Program has been conducted for the precise energy measurement due to steam explosion in melt jet and stratified geometries. In VEGA Program, which aims at FP release from irradiated fuels at high temperature and high pressure under various atmospheric conditions, the facility construction is almost completed. In WIND Program the revaporization of aerosols due to decay heating and also the integrity of the piping from this heat source are being investigated. Code development activities are in progress for an integrated source term analysis with THALES, fission product behaviors with ART, steam explosion with JASMINE, and in-vessel debris behaviors with CAMP. The experimental analyses and reactor application have made progress by participating international standard problem and code comparison exercises, along with the use of introduced codes, such as SCDAP/RELAP5 and MELCOR. The outcome of the severe accident research will be utilized for the evaluation of more reliable severe accident scenarios, detailed implementation of the accident management measures, and also for the future reactor development, basically through the sophisticated use of verified analytical tools. (author)

Estimation of cost per severe accident for improvement of accident protection and consequence mitigation strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Kampanart; Ishiwatari, Yuki; Takahara, Shogo

2013-01-01

To assess the complex situations regarding the severe accidents such as what observed in Fukushima Accident, not only radiation protection aspects but also relevant aspects: health, environmental, economic and societal aspects; must be all included into the consequence assessment. In this study, the authors introduce the “cost per severe accident” as an index to analyze the consequences of severe accidents comprehensively. The cost per severe accident consists of various costs and consequences converted into monetary values. For the purpose of improvement of the accident protection and consequence mitigation strategies, the costs needed to introduce the protective actions, and health and psychological consequences are included in the present study. The evaluations of these costs and consequences were made based on the systematic consequence analysis using level 2 and 3 probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) codes. The accident sequences used in this analysis were taken from the results of level 2 seismic PSA of a virtual 1,100 MWe BWR-5. The doses to the public and the number of people affected were calculated using the level 3 PSA code OSCAAR of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The calculations have been made for 248 meteorological sequences, and the outputs are given as expectation values for various meteorological conditions. Using these outputs, the cost per severe accident is calculated based on the open documents on the Fukushima Accident regarding the cost of protective actions and compensations for psychological harms. Finally, optimized accident protection and consequence mitigation strategies are recommended taking into account the various aspects comprehensively using the cost per severe accident. The authors must emphasize that the aim is not to estimate the accident cost itself but to extend the scope of “risk-informed decision making” for continuous safety improvements of nuclear energy. (author)

Four-fluid model of PWR degraded cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dearing, J.F.

1985-01-01

This paper describes the new two-dimensional, four-fluid fluid dynamics and heat transfer (FLUIDS) module of the MELPROG code. MELPROG is designed to give an integrated, mechanistic treatment of pressurized water reactor (PWR) core meltdown accidents from accident initiation to vessel melt-through. The code has a modular data storage and transfer structure, with each module providing the others with boundary conditions at each computational time step. Thus the FLUIDS module receives mass and energy source terms from the fuel pin module, the structures module, and the debris bed module, and radiation energy source terms from the radiation module. MELPROG, which models the reactor vessel, is also designed to model the vessel as a component in the TRAC/PF1 networking solution of a PWR reactor coolant system (RCS). The coupling between TRAC and MELPROG is implicit in the fluid dynamics of the reactor coolant (liquid water and steam) allowing an accurate simulation of the coupling between the vessel and the rest of the RCS during an accident. This paper deals specifically with the numerical model of fluid dynamics and heat transfer within the reactor vessel, which allows a much more realistic simulation (with less restrictive assumptions on physical behavior) of the accident than has been possible before

Severe accident recriticality analyses (SARA)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frid, W.; Højerup, C.F.; Lindholm, I.

2001-01-01

with all three codes. The core initial and boundary conditions prior to recriticality have been studied with the severe accident codes SCDAP/RELAP5, MELCOR and MAAP4. The results of the analyses show that all three codes predict recriticality-both super-prompt power bursts and quasi steady-state power......Recriticality in a BWR during reflooding of an overheated partly degraded core, i.e. with relocated control rods, has been studied for a total loss of electric power accident scenario. In order to assess the impact of recriticality on reactor safety, including accident management strategies......, which results in large energy deposition in the fuel during power burst in some accident scenarios. The highest value, 418 cal g(-1), was obtained with SIMULATE-3K for an Oskarshamn 3 case with reflooding rate of 2000 kg s(-1). In most cases, however, the predicted energy deposition was smaller, below...

Computerized accident management support system: development for severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, V.; Saiz, J.; Gomez, C.

1998-01-01

The activities involved in the international Halden Reactor Project (HRP), sponsored by the OECD, include the development of a Computerized Accident Management Support System (CAMS). The system was initially designed for its operation under normal conditions, operational transients and non severe accidents. Its purpose is to detect the plant status, analyzing the future evolution of the sequence (initially using the APROS simulation code) and the possible recovery and mitigation actions in case of an accident occurs. In order to widen the scope of CAMS to severe accident management issues, the integration of the MAAP code in the system has been proposed, as the contribution of the Spanish Electrical Sector to the project (with the coordination of DTN). To include this new capacity in CAMS is necessary to modify the system structure, including two new modules (Diagnosis and Adjustment). These modules are being developed currently for Pressurized Water Reactors and Boiling Water REactors, by the engineering of UNION FENOSA and IBERDROLA companies (respectively). This motion presents the characteristics of the new structure of the CAMS, as well as the general characteristics of the modules, developed by these companies in the framework of the Halden Reactor Project. (Author)

Development of a prototype graphic simulation program for severe accident training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ko Ryu; Jeong, Kwang Sub; Ha, Jae Joo

2000-05-01

This is a report of the development process and related technologies of severe accident graphic simulators, required in industrial severe accident management and training. Here, we say 'a severe accident graphic simulator' as a graphics add-in system to existing calculation codes, which can show the severe accident phenomena dynamically on computer screens and therefore which can supplement one of main defects of existing calculation codes. With graphic simulators it is fairly easy to see the total behavior of nuclear power plants, where it was very difficult to see only from partial variable numerical information. Moreover, the fast processing and control feature of a graphic simulator can give some opportunities of predicting the severe accident advancement among several possibilities, to one who is not an expert. Utilizing graphic simulators' we expect operators' and TSC members' physical phenomena understanding enhancement from the realistic dynamic behavior of plants. We also expect that severe accident training course can gain better training effects using graphic simulator's control functions and predicting capabilities, and therefore we expect that graphic simulators will be effective decision-aids tools both in sever accident training course and in real severe accident situations. With these in mind, we have developed a prototype graphic simulator having surveyed related technologies, and from this development experiences we have inspected the possibility to build a severe accident graphic simulator. The prototype graphic simulator is developed under IBM PC WinNT environments and is suited to Uljin 3and4 nuclear power plant. When supplied with adequate severe accident scenario as an input, the prototype can provide graphical simulations of plant safety systems' dynamic behaviors. The prototype is composed of several different modules, which are phenomena display module, MELCOR data interface module and graphic database interface module. Main functions of

A study of core melting phenomena in reactor severe accident of PWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeun, Gyoo Dong; Park, Shane; Kim, Jong Sun; Kim, Sung Joong [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jin Man [Korea Maritime Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2001-03-15

In the 4th year, SCDAP/RELAP5 best estimate input data obtained from the TMI-2 accident analysis were applied to the analysis of domestic nuclear power plant. Ulchin nuclear power plant unit 3, 4 were selected as reference plant and steam generator tube rupture, station blackout SCDAP/RELAP5 calculation were performed to verify the adequacy of the best estimate input parameters and the adequacy of related models. Also, System 80+ EVSE simulation was executed to study steam explosion phenomena in the reactor cavity and EVSE load test was performed on the simplified reactor cavity geometry using TRACER-II code.

Core loss during a severe accident (COLOSS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adroguer, B.; Bertrand, F.; Chatelard, P.; Cocuaud, N.; Van Dorsselaere, J.P.; Bellenfant, L.; Knocke, D.; Bottomley, D.; Vrtilkova, V.; Belovsky, L.; Mueller, K.; Hering, W.; Homann, C.; Krauss, W.; Miassoedov, A.; Schanz, G.; Steinbrueck, M.; Stuckert, J.; Hozer, Z.; Bandini, G.; Birchley, J.; Berlepsch, T. von; Kleinhietpass, I.; Buck, M.; Benitez, J.A.F.; Virtanen, E.; Marguet, S.; Azarian, G.; Caillaux, A.; Plank, H.; Boldyrev, A.; Veshchunov, M.; Kobzar, V.; Zvonarev, Y.; Goryachev, A.

2005-01-01

The COLOSS project was a 3-year shared-cost action, which started in February 2000. The work-programme performed by 19 partners was shaped around complementary activities aimed at improving severe accident codes. Unresolved risk-relevant issues regarding H 2 production, melt generation and the source term were studied through a large number of experiments such as (a) dissolution of fresh and high burn-up UO 2 and MOX by molten Zircaloy (b) simultaneous dissolution of UO 2 and ZrO 2 (c) oxidation of U-O-Zr mixtures (d) degradation-oxidation of B 4 C control rods. Corresponding models were developed and implemented in severe accident computer codes. Upgraded codes were then used to apply results in plant calculations and evaluate their consequences on key severe accident sequences in different plants involving B 4 C control rods and in the TMI-2 accident. Significant results have been produced from separate-effects, semi-global and large-scale tests on COLOSS topics enabling the development and validation of models and the improvement of some severe accident codes. Breakthroughs were achieved on some issues for which more data are needed for consolidation of the modelling in particular on burn-up effects on UO 2 and MOX dissolution and oxidation of U-O-Zr and B 4 C-metal mixtures. There was experimental evidence that the oxidation of these mixtures can contribute significantly to the large H 2 production observed during the reflooding of degraded cores under severe accident conditions. The plant calculation activity enabled (a) the assessment of codes to calculate core degradation with the identification of main uncertainties and needs for short-term developments and (b) the identification of safety implications of new results. Main results and recommendations for future R and D activities are summarized in this paper

Development of the severe accident risk information database management system SARD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Kwang Il; Kim, Dong Ha

2003-01-01

The main purpose of this report is to introduce essential features and functions of a severe accident risk information management system, SARD (Severe Accident Risk Database Management System) version 1.0, which has been developed in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, and database management and data retrieval procedures through the system. The present database management system has powerful capabilities that can store automatically and manage systematically the plant-specific severe accident analysis results for core damage sequences leading to severe accidents, and search intelligently the related severe accident risk information. For that purpose, the present database system mainly takes into account the plant-specific severe accident sequences obtained from the Level 2 Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSAs), base case analysis results for various severe accident sequences (such as code responses and summary for key-event timings), and related sensitivity analysis results for key input parameters/models employed in the severe accident codes. Accordingly, the present database system can be effectively applied in supporting the Level 2 PSA of similar plants, for fast prediction and intelligent retrieval of the required severe accident risk information for the specific plant whose information was previously stored in the database system, and development of plant-specific severe accident management strategies

Development of the severe accident risk information database management system SARD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Kwang Il; Kim, Dong Ha

2003-01-01

The main purpose of this report is to introduce essential features and functions of a severe accident risk information management system, SARD (Severe Accident Risk Database Management System) version 1.0, which has been developed in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, and database management and data retrieval procedures through the system. The present database management system has powerful capabilities that can store automatically and manage systematically the plant-specific severe accident analysis results for core damage sequences leading to severe accidents, and search intelligently the related severe accident risk information. For that purpose, the present database system mainly takes into account the plant-specific severe accident sequences obtained from the Level 2 Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSAs), base case analysis results for various severe accident sequences (such as code responses and summary for key-event timings), and related sensitivity analysis results for key input parameters/models employed in the severe accident codes. Accordingly, the present database system can be effectively applied in supporting the Level 2 PSA of similar plants, for fast prediction and intelligent retrieval of the required severe accident risk information for the specific plant whose information was previously stored in the database system, and development of plant-specific severe accident management strategies.

Modeling in fast dynamics of accidents in the primary circuit of PWR type reactors; Modelisation en dynamique rapide d'accidents dans le circuit primaire des reacteurs a eau pressurisee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robbe, M.F

2003-12-01

Two kinds of accidents, liable to occur in the primary circuit of a Pressurized Water Reactor and involving fast dynamic phenomena, are analyzed. The Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA) is the accident used to define the current PWR. It consists in a large-size break located in a pipe of the primary circuit. A blowdown wave propagates through the circuit. The pressure differences between the different zones of the reactor induce high stresses in the structures of the lower head and may degrade the reactor core. The primary circuit starts emptying from the break opening. Pressure decreases very quickly, involving a large steaming. Two thermal-hydraulic simulations of the blowdown phase of a LOCA are computed with the Europlexus code. The primary circuit is represented by a pipe-model including the hydraulic peculiarities of the circuit. The main differences between both computations concern the kind of reactor, the break location and model, and the initialization of the accidental operation. Steam explosion is a hypothetical severe accident liable to happen after a core melting. The molten part of the core (called corium) falls in the lower part of the reactor. The interaction between the hot corium and the cold water remaining at the bottom of the vessel induces a massive and violent vaporization of water, similar to an explosive phenomenon. A shock wave propagates in the vessel. what can damage seriously the neighbouring structures or drill the vessel. This work presents a synthesis of in-vessel parametrical studies carried out with the Europlexus code, the linkage of the thermal-hydraulic code Mc3d dedicated to the pre-mixing phase with the Europlexus code dealing with the explosion, and finally a benchmark between the Cigalon and Europlexus codes relative to the Vulcano mock-up. (author)

Predicted occurrence rate of severe transportation accidents involving large casks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dennis, A.W.

1978-01-01

A summary of the results of an investigation of the severities of highway and railroad accidents as they relate to the shipment of large radioactive materials casks is discussed. The accident environments considered are fire, impact, crash, immersion, and puncture. For each of these environments, the accident severities and their predicted frequencies of occurrence are presented. These accident environments are presented in tabular and graphic form to allow the reader to evaluate the probabilities of occurrence of the accident parameter severities he selects

Development of Information Display System for Operator Support in Severe Accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Kwang Il; Lee, Joon Ku

2016-01-01

When the severe accident occurs, the technical support center (TSC) performs the mitigation strategy with severe accident management guidelines (SAMG) and communicates with main control room (MCR) operators to obtain information of plant's status. In such circumstances, the importance of an information display for severe accident is increased. Therefore an information display system dedicated to severe accident conditions is required to secure the plant information, to provide the necessary information to MCR operators and TSC operators, and to support the decision using these information. We setup the design concept of severe accident information display system (SIDS) in the previous study and defined its requirements of function and performance. This paper describes the process, results of the identification of the severe accident information for MCR operator and the implementation of SIDS. Further implementation on post-accident monitoring function and data validation function for severe accidents will be accomplished in the future

Studies on the role of molybdenum on iodine transport in the RCS in nuclear severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grégoire, A.-C.; Kalilainen, J.; Cousin, F.; Mutelle, H.; Cantrel, L.; Auvinen, A.; Haste, T.; Sobanska, S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • In oxidising conditions, Mo reacts with Cs and thus promotes gaseous iodine release. • In reducing conditions, CsI remains the dominant form for released iodine. • The nature of released iodine is well reproduced by the ASTEC code. - Abstract: The effect of molybdenum on iodine transport in the reactor coolant system (RCS) under PWR severe accident conditions was investigated in the framework of the EU SARNET project. Experiments were conducted at the VTT-Institute and at IRSN and simulations of the experimental results were performed with the ASTEC severe accident simulation code. As molybdenum affects caesium chemistry by formation of molybdates, it may have a significant impact on iodine transport in the RCS. Experimentally it has been shown that the formation of gaseous iodine is promoted in oxidising conditions, as caesium can be completely consumed to form caesium polymolybdates and is thus not available for reacting with gaseous iodine and leading to CsI aerosols. In reducing conditions, CsI remains the dominant form of iodine, as the amount of oxygen is not sufficient to allow formation of quantitative caesium polymolybdates. An I–Mo–Cs model has been developed and it reproduces well the experimental trends on iodine transport

A two dimensional approach for temperature distribution in reactor lower head during severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Zhen; Liu, Xiaojing; Cheng, Xu

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Two dimensional module is developed to analyze integrity of lower head. • Verification step has been done to evaluate feasibility of new module. • The new module is applied to simulate large-scale advanced PWR. • Importance of 2-D approach is clearly quantified. • Major parameters affecting vessel temperature distribution are identified. - Abstract: In order to evaluate the safety margin during a postulated severe accident, a module named ASAP-2D (Accident Simulation on Pressure vessel-2 Dimensional), which can be implemented into the severe accident simulation codes (such as ATHLET-CD), is developed in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Based on two-dimensional spherical coordinates, heat conduction equation for transient state is solved implicitly. Together with solid vessel thickness, heat flux distribution and heat transfer coefficient at outer vessel surface are obtained. Heat transfer regime when critical heat flux has been exceeded (POST-CHF regime) could be simulated in the code, and the transition behavior of boiling crisis (from spatial and temporal points of view) can be predicted. The module is verified against a one-dimensional analytical solution with uniform heat flux distribution, and afterwards this module is applied to the benchmark illustrated in NUREG/CR-6849. Benchmark calculation indicates that maximum heat flux at outer surface of RPV could be around 20% lower than that of at inner surface due to two-dimensional heat conduction. Then a preliminary analysis is performed on the integrity of the reactor vessel for which the geometric parameters and boundary conditions are derived from a large scale advanced pressurized water reactor. Results indicate that heat flux remains lower than critical heat flux. Sensitivity analysis indicates that outer heat flux distribution is more sensitive to input heat flux distribution and the transition boiling correlation than mass flow rate in external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) channel

Identification of the operating crew's information needs for accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, W.R.; Hanson, D.J.; Ward, L.W.; Solberg, D.E.

1988-01-01

While it would be very difficult to predetermine all of the actions required to mitigate the consequences of every potential severe accident for a nuclear power plant, development of additional guidance and training could improve the likelihood that the operating crew would implement effective sever-accident management measures. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is conducting an Accident Management Research Program that emphasizes the application of severe-accident research results to enhance the capability of the plant operating crew to effectively manage severe accidents. One element of this program includes identification of the information needed by the operating crew in severe-accident situations. This paper discusses a method developed for identifying these information needs and its application. The methodology has been applied to a generic reactor design representing a PWR with a large dry containment. The information needs were identified by systematically determining what information is needed to assess the health of the critical functions, identify the presence of challenges, select strategies, and assess the effectiveness of these strategies. This method allows the systematic identification of information needs for a broad range of severe-accident scenarios and can be validated by exercising the functional models for any specific event sequence

Instrumentation for the follow-up of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munoz Sanchez, A.; Nino Perote, R.

2000-01-01

During severe accidents, it is foreseeable that the instrumentation installed in a plant is subjected to conditions which are more hostile than those for which the instrumentation was designed and qualified. Moreover, new, specific instrumentation is required to monitor variables which have not been considered until now, and to control systems which lessen the consequences of severe accidents. Both existing instrumentation used to monitor critical functions in design basis accident conditions and additional instrumentation which provides the information necessary to control and mitigate the consequences of severe accidents, have to be designed to withstand such conditions, especially in terms of measurements range, functional characteristics and qualification to withstand pressure and temperature loads resulting from steam explosion, hydrogen combustion/explosion and high levels of radiation over long periods of time. (Author)

Severe accident sequences simulated at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carbajo, J.J.

1999-01-01

Different severe accident sequences employing the MELCOR code, version 1.8.4 QK, have been simulated at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station (Grand Gulf). The postulated severe accidents simulated are two low-pressure, short-term, station blackouts; two unmitigated small-break (SB) loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs) (SBLOCAs); and one unmitigated large LOCA (LLOCA). The purpose of this study was to calculate best-estimate timings of events and source terms for a wide range of severe accidents and to compare the plant response to these accidents

Swedish REGULATORY APPROACH TO SAFETY Assessment AND SEVERE ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frid, W.; Sandervaag, O.

1997-01-01

The Swedish regulatory approach to safety assessment and severe accident management is briefly described. The safety assessment program, which focuses on prevention of incidents and accidents, has three main components: periodic safety reviews, probabilistic safety analysis, and analysis of postulated disturbances and accident progression sequences. Management and man-technology-organisation issues, as well as inspections, play a key role in safety assessment. Basis for severe accident management were established by the Government decisions in 1981 and 1986. By the end of 1988, the severe accident mitigation systems and emergency operating procedures were implemented at all Swedish reactors. The severe accident research has continued after 1988 for further verification of the protection provided by the systems and reduction of remaining uncertainties in risk dominant phenomena

Development of Information Display System for Operator Support in Severe Accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Kwang Il; Lee, Joon Ku [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

When the severe accident occurs, the technical support center (TSC) performs the mitigation strategy with severe accident management guidelines (SAMG) and communicates with main control room (MCR) operators to obtain information of plant's status. In such circumstances, the importance of an information display for severe accident is increased. Therefore an information display system dedicated to severe accident conditions is required to secure the plant information, to provide the necessary information to MCR operators and TSC operators, and to support the decision using these information. We setup the design concept of severe accident information display system (SIDS) in the previous study and defined its requirements of function and performance. This paper describes the process, results of the identification of the severe accident information for MCR operator and the implementation of SIDS. Further implementation on post-accident monitoring function and data validation function for severe accidents will be accomplished in the future.

Development of a prototype graphic simulation program for severe accident training

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Ko Ryu; Jeong, Kwang Sub; Ha, Jae Joo

2000-05-01

This is a report of the development process and related technologies of severe accident graphic simulators, required in industrial severe accident management and training. Here, we say 'a severe accident graphic simulator' as a graphics add-in system to existing calculation codes, which can show the severe accident phenomena dynamically on computer screens and therefore which can supplement one of main defects of existing calculation codes. With graphic simulators it is fairly easy to see the total behavior of nuclear power plants, where it was very difficult to see only from partial variable numerical information. Moreover, the fast processing and control feature of a graphic simulator can give some opportunities of predicting the severe accident advancement among several possibilities, to one who is not an expert. Utilizing graphic simulators' we expect operators' and TSC members' physical phenomena understanding enhancement from the realistic dynamic behavior of plants. We also expect that severe accident training course can gain better training effects using graphic simulator's control functions and predicting capabilities, and therefore we expect that graphic simulators will be effective decision-aids tools both in sever accident training course and in real severe accident situations. With these in mind, we have developed a prototype graphic simulator having surveyed related technologies, and from this development experiences we have inspected the possibility to build a severe accident graphic simulator. The prototype graphic simulator is developed under IBM PC WinNT environments and is suited to Uljin 3and4 nuclear power plant. When supplied with adequate severe accident scenario as an input, the prototype can provide graphical simulations of plant safety systems' dynamic behaviors. The prototype is composed of several different modules, which are phenomena display module, MELCOR data interface module and graphic database

Analyzing the severity of accidents on the German Autobahn.

Science.gov (United States)

Manner, Hans; Wünsch-Ziegler, Laura

2013-08-01

We study the severity of accidents on the German Autobahn in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia using data for the years 2009 until 2011. We use a multinomial logit model to identify statistically relevant factors explaining the severity of the most severe injury, which is classified into the four classes fatal, severe injury, light injury and property damage. Furthermore, to account for unobserved heterogeneity we use a random parameter model. We study the effect of a number of factors including traffic information, road conditions, type of accidents, speed limits, presence of intelligent traffic control systems, age and gender of the driver and location of the accident. Our findings are in line with studies in different settings and indicate that accidents during daylight and at interchanges or construction sites are less severe in general. Accidents caused by the collision with roadside objects, involving pedestrians and motorcycles, or caused by bad sight conditions tend to be more severe. We discuss the measures of the 2011 German traffic safety programm in the light of our results. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revised Severe Accident Research Program plan, FY 1990--1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-08-01

For the past 10 years, since the Three Mile Island accident, the NRC has sponsored an active research program on light-water-reactor severe accidents as part of a multi-faceted approach to reactor safety. This report describes the revised Severe Accident Research Program (SARP) and how the revisions are designed to provide confirmatory information and technical support to the NRC staff in implementing the staff's Integration Plan for Closure of Severe Accident Issues as described in SECY-88-147. The revised SARP addresses both the near-term research directed at providing a technical basis upon which decisions on important containment performance issues can be made and the long-term research needed to confirm and refine our understanding of severe accidents. In developing this plan, the staff recognized that the overall goal is to reduce the uncertainties in the source term sufficiently to enable the staff to make regulatory decisions on severe accident issues. However, the staff also recognized that for some issues it may not be practical to attempt to further reduce uncertainties, and some regulatory decisions or conclusions will have to be made with full awareness of existing uncertainties. 2 figs., 1 tab

A multivariate tobit analysis of highway accident-injury-severity rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Anastasopoulos, Panagiotis Ch; Shankar, Venky N; Haddock, John E; Mannering, Fred L

2012-03-01

Relatively recent research has illustrated the potential that tobit regression has in studying factors that affect vehicle accident rates (accidents per distance traveled) on specific roadway segments. Tobit regression has been used because accident rates on specific roadway segments are continuous data that are left-censored at zero (they are censored because accidents may not be observed on all roadway segments during the period over which data are collected). This censoring may arise from a number of sources, one of which being the possibility that less severe crashes may be under-reported and thus may be less likely to appear in crash databases. Traditional tobit-regression analyses have dealt with the overall accident rate (all crashes regardless of injury severity), so the issue of censoring by the severity of crashes has not been addressed. However, a tobit-regression approach that considers accident rates by injury-severity level, such as the rate of no-injury, possible injury and injury accidents per distance traveled (as opposed to all accidents regardless of injury-severity), can potentially provide new insights, and address the possibility that censoring may vary by crash-injury severity. Using five-year data from highways in Washington State, this paper estimates a multivariate tobit model of accident-injury-severity rates that addresses the possibility of differential censoring across injury-severity levels, while also accounting for the possible contemporaneous error correlation resulting from commonly shared unobserved characteristics across roadway segments. The empirical results show that the multivariate tobit model outperforms its univariate counterpart, is practically equivalent to the multivariate negative binomial model, and has the potential to provide a fuller understanding of the factors determining accident-injury-severity rates on specific roadway segments. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Bus accident severity and passenger injury: evidence from Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prato, Carlo Giacomo; Kaplan, Sigal

2014-01-01

Purpose Bus safety is a concern not only in developing countries, but also in the U.S. and Europe. In Denmark, disentangling risk factors that are positively or negatively related to bus accident severity and injury occurrence to bus passengers can contribute to promote safety as an essential...... principle of sustainable transit and advance the vision “every accident is one too many”. Methods Bus accident data were retrieved from the national accident database for the period 2002–2011. A generalized ordered logit model allows analyzing bus accident severity and a logistic regression enables...... examining occurrence of injury to bus passengers. Results Bus accident severity is positively related to (i) the involvement of vulnerable road users, (ii) high speed limits, (iii) night hours, (iv) elderly drivers of the third party involved, and (v) bus drivers and other drivers crossing in yellow or red...

International standard problem ISP36. Cora-W2 experiment on severe fuel damage for a Russian type PWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-12-31

An OECD/NEA-CSNI International Standard Problem (ISP) has been performed on the experimental comparison basis of the severe fuel damage experiment CORA-W2. The out-of-pile experiment CORA-W2 was executed in February 1993 at he Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. The objective of this experiment was the investigation of the behavior of a Russian type PWR fuel element (VVER-1000) during early core degradation. The main difference between a Western type and a Russian type PWR bundle is the B{sub 4}C absorber rod instead of AgInCd. Measured quantities ar boundary conditions, bundle temperature, hydrogen generation and the final bundle configurations after cooldown. The ISP was conducted as a blind exercise. Boundary conditions were estimated using ATHLET-CD. Six different severe accident codes were used. The comparisons between experimental and analytical results were grouped by codes and examined separately. The thermal behavior up to significant oxidation has been predicted quite well. Larger deviations have been observed for the oxidation-induced temperature escalation, both time of onset and maximum temperature as well. The bundle behavior is greatly influenced by chemical interactions involving B{sub 4}C absorber rod material, which failed relatively early at low temperature due to eutectic interaction between B{sub 4}C and SS cladding as well as the SS guide tube. Regarding the complex material interaction larger differences can be recognized between calculated and measured results because of inappropriate models for material relocation and solidification processes and the lack of models describing the interactions of absorber rod materials with the fuel rods. For the total amount of H{sub 2} generated, acceptable agreement could be achieved, if the total of oxidized zirconium was calculated correctly. The oxidation of stainless steel components and B{sub 4}C were not treated. In general the confidence in code predictions decreases with processing core damage. 36 refs.

International standard problem ISP36. Cora-W2 experiment on severe fuel damage for a Russian type PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

An OECD/NEA-CSNI International Standard Problem (ISP) has been performed on the experimental comparison basis of the severe fuel damage experiment CORA-W2. The out-of-pile experiment CORA-W2 was executed in February 1993 at he Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. The objective of this experiment was the investigation of the behavior of a Russian type PWR fuel element (VVER-1000) during early core degradation. The main difference between a Western type and a Russian type PWR bundle is the B 4 C absorber rod instead of AgInCd. Measured quantities ar boundary conditions, bundle temperature, hydrogen generation and the final bundle configurations after cooldown. The ISP was conducted as a blind exercise. Boundary conditions were estimated using ATHLET-CD. Six different severe accident codes were used. The comparisons between experimental and analytical results were grouped by codes and examined separately. The thermal behavior up to significant oxidation has been predicted quite well. Larger deviations have been observed for the oxidation-induced temperature escalation, both time of onset and maximum temperature as well. The bundle behavior is greatly influenced by chemical interactions involving B 4 C absorber rod material, which failed relatively early at low temperature due to eutectic interaction between B 4 C and SS cladding as well as the SS guide tube. Regarding the complex material interaction larger differences can be recognized between calculated and measured results because of inappropriate models for material relocation and solidification processes and the lack of models describing the interactions of absorber rod materials with the fuel rods. For the total amount of H 2 generated, acceptable agreement could be achieved, if the total of oxidized zirconium was calculated correctly. The oxidation of stainless steel components and B 4 C were not treated. In general the confidence in code predictions decreases with processing core damage. (N.T.)

Benchmarking Severe Accident Computer Codes for Heavy Water Reactor Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-12-01

Requests for severe accident investigations and assurance of mitigation measures have increased for operating nuclear power plants and the design of advanced nuclear power plants. Severe accident analysis investigations necessitate the analysis of the very complex physical phenomena that occur sequentially during various stages of accident progression. Computer codes are essential tools for understanding how the reactor and its containment might respond under severe accident conditions. The IAEA organizes coordinated research projects (CRPs) to facilitate technology development through international collaboration among Member States. The CRP on Benchmarking Severe Accident Computer Codes for HWR Applications was planned on the advice and with the support of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Department's Technical Working Group on Advanced Technologies for HWRs (the TWG-HWR). This publication summarizes the results from the CRP participants. The CRP promoted international collaboration among Member States to improve the phenomenological understanding of severe core damage accidents and the capability to analyse them. The CRP scope included the identification and selection of a severe accident sequence, selection of appropriate geometrical and boundary conditions, conduct of benchmark analyses, comparison of the results of all code outputs, evaluation of the capabilities of computer codes to predict important severe accident phenomena, and the proposal of necessary code improvements and/or new experiments to reduce uncertainties. Seven institutes from five countries with HWRs participated in this CRP

Phenomenology of severe accidents in BWR type reactors. First part

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandoval V, S.

2003-01-01

A Severe Accident in a nuclear power plant is a deviation from its normal operating conditions, resulting in substantial damage to the core and, potentially, the release of fission products. Although the occurrence of a Severe Accident on a nuclear power plant is a low probability event, due to the multiple safety systems and strict safety regulations applied since plant design and during operation, Severe Accident Analysis is performed as a safety proactive activity. Nuclear Power Plant Severe Accident Analysis is of great benefit for safety studies, training and accident management, among other applications. This work describes and summarizes some of the most important phenomena in Severe Accident field and briefly illustrates its potential use based on the results of two generic simulations. Equally important and abundant as those here presented, fission product transport and retention phenomena are deferred to a complementary work. (Author)

Developing a knowledge base for the management of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, W.R.; Jenkins, J.P.

1986-01-01

Prior to the accident at Three Mile Island, little attention was given to the development of procedures for the management of severe accidents, that is, accidents in which the reactor core is damaged. Since TMI, however, significant effort has been devoted to developing strategies for severe accident management. At the same time, the potential application of artificial intelligence techniques, particularly expert systems, to complex decision-making tasks such as accident diagnosis and response has received considerable attention. The need to develop strategies for accident management suggests that a computerized knowledge base such as used by an expert system could be developed to collect and organize knowledge for severe accident management. This paper suggests a general method which could be used to develop such a knowledge base, and how it could be used to enhance accident management capabilities

The management of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelce, J.; Brignon, P.

1987-01-01

In considering severe accidents in water power reactors, a major problem that arises is how to manage them in such a way that the situation can be controlled as well as possible, from the aspects both of preventing serious damage to the core of limiting the discharge of radioactivity. A number of countries have announced provisions in the field of accident management, some already set up, others planned, but these mainly apply to preventing damage to the core. Part of this report deals with this aspect, to show that there is a fairly wide consensus on how problems should be approached. Attitudes vary, on the other hand, in the approach to mitigate radioactive release. In fact, few countries have proposed concrete steps to manage severe accidents in the final stages when the core is seriously damaged. Since it is difficult to compare different approaches, only the French approach is described. This description is however very brief, because in the five or six years since it was defined, the approach has been presented many times. The stress is placed more on the comments which this type of approach suggests, to make the subsequent general discussion easier

Containment severe accident management - selected strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duco, J.; Royen, J.; Rohde, J.; Frid, W.; De Boeck, B.

1994-01-01

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) organized in June 1994, in collaboration with the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI), a Specialist Meeting on Selected Containment Severe Accident Management Strategies, to discuss their feasibility, effectiveness, benefits and drawbacks, and long-term impact. The meeting focused on water reactors, mainly on existing systems. The technical content covered topics such as general aspects of accident management strategies in OECD Member countries, hydrogen management techniques and other containment accident management strategies, surveillance and protection of the containment function. The main conclusions of the meeting are summarized in the paper. (author)

Upper plenum dump during reflood in PWR loss-of-coolant accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sudo, Yukio; Griffith, Peter.

1981-01-01

Upper plenum dump during reflood in a large break loww-of-coolant accident of PWR is studied with the emergency core coolant injection into the upper plenum in addition to the cold leg. Transient experiments were carried out by injecting water into the upper plenum and the simple analysis based on a one-dimensional model was done using the drift flux model in order to investigate the conditions under which water dump through the core occurs during reflood. The most significant result is an upper plenum dump occurs when the pressure (hydrostatic head) in the upper plenum is greater than that in the lower plenum. Under those circumstances the flow regime isco-current down flow in which the upper plenum is rapidly emptied. On the other hand, when the upper plenum pressure (hydrostatic head) is less than the lower plenum pressure (hydrostatic head), the co-current down flow is not realized but a counter-current flow occurs. With subcooled water injection to the upper plenum, co-current down flow is realized even when the upper plenum hydrostatic head is less than the lower plenum hydrostatic head. The importance of this effect varies according to the magnetude of water subcooling. (author)

Severe accident source term reassessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazzan, M.J.; Gardner, R.; Warman, E.A.; Jacobs, S.B.

1987-01-01

This paper summarizes the status of the reassessment of severe reactor accident source terms, which are defined as the quantity, type, and timing of fission product releases from such accidents. Concentration is on the major results and conclusions of analyses with modern methods for both pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and boiling water reactors (BWRs), and the special case of containment bypass. Some distinctions are drawn between analyses for PWRs and BWRs. In general, the more the matter is examined, the consequences, or probability of serious consequences, seem to be less. (author)

Analyzing the loss of coolant accident in PWR nuclear reactors with elevation change in cold leg by RELAP5/MOD3.2 system code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kheshtpaz, H.; Alison, C.

2006-01-01

As, the Russian designed VVER-1000 reactor of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant by taking into account the change from German technology to that of Russian technology, and with the design of elevation change in the cold legs has been developed; therefore safety assessment of these systems for loss of coolant accident in elevation change in the cold legs and comparison results for non change elevation in the cold legs for a typical reactor (normal design of nuclear reactors) is the main important factor to be considered for the safe operation. In this article, the main objective is the simulation of the loss of coolant accident scenario by the RELAP5/MOD3.2 code in two different cases; first, the elevation change in the cold legs, and the second, non change in it. After comparing and analyzing these two code calculations the results have been generalized for a new design feature of Bushehr reactor. The design and simulation of the elevation change in the cold legs process with RELAP5/MOD3.2 code for PWR reactor is performed for the first time in the country, where it is introducing several important results in this respect

Review of severe accidents and the results of accident consequence assessment in different energy systems (Contract research)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuki, Yoshio; Muramatsu, Ken

2008-05-01

The cases of severe accidents and the consequence assessments in different energy systems, Coal, Oil, Gas, Hydro and Nuclear, were collected, and then they were further analyzed. In this report, the information on the accidents in various energy systems were collected from the sources of the Paul Scherrer Institute (hereinafter, 'PSI') and the International Atomic Energy Agency (hereinafter, 'IAEA'). The information on the severe accidents of nuclear power plants were collected from the report of the US Presidential Commission on Catastrophic Nuclear Accidents and several relevant reports issued in the countries of the European Union, together with the reports of the PSI and the IAEA. To analyze the collected information, several parameters, which are numbers of fatalities, injuries, evacuees and the costs of the damages, were chosen to characterize those accidents in different energy systems. And then, upon the comparison of these characteristics of different accidents, the impacts of the accidents in nuclear and other energy systems were compared. Upon the results of the analysis, it is pointed out that the cost caused by the Chernobyl Accident, the severe accident in nuclear energy, tends to be higher than in the other energy systems. On the other hand, from the aspects of fatalities and injuries, it is not confirmed that the damages of the Chernobyl Accident are larger than in the other energy systems. However, it is also recognized, as the specific characteristics of the severe nuclear accident, that the impacts of the accident spread in a wider area, and stay for a longer period, in comparison with the ones in the other energy systems. (author)

Managing severe reactor accidents. A review and evaluation of our knowledge on reactor accidents and accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gustavsson, Veine

2002-11-01

The report gives a review of the results from the last years research on severe reactor accidents, and an opinion on the possibilities to refine the present strategies for accident management in Swedish and Finnish BWRs. The following aspect of reactor accidents are the major themes of the study: 1. Early pressure relief from hydrogen production; 2. Recriticality in re-flooded, degraded core; 3. Melt-through; 4. Steam explosion after melt-through; 5. Coolability of the melt after after melt-through; 6. Hydrogen fire in the reactor containment; 7. Leaking containment; 8. Hydrogen fire in the reactor building; 9. Long-time developments after a severe accident; 10. Accidents during shutdown for overhaul; 11. Information need for remedial actions. Possibilities for improving the strategies in each of these areas are discussed. The review shows that our knowledge is sufficient in the areas 1, 2, 4, 6, 8. For the other areas, more research is needed

Factors associated with urban non-fatal road-accident severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Potoglou, Dimitris; Carlucci, Fabio; Cirà, Andrea; Restaino, Marialuisa

2018-02-05

This paper reports on the factors associated with non-fatal urban-road accident severity. Data on accidents were gathered from the local traffic police in the City of Palermo, one of the six most populated cities in Italy. Findings from a mixed-effects logistic-regression model suggest that accident severity increases when two young drivers are involved, road traffic conditions are light/normal and when vehicles crash on a two-way road or carriageway. Speeding is more likely to cause slight or serious injury even when compared to a vehicle moving towards the opposite direction of traffic. An accident during the summer is more likely to result in a slight or serious injury than an accident during the winter, which is in line with evidence from Southern Europe and the Middle East. Finally, the severity of non-fatal accident injuries in an urban area of Southern Europe was significantly associated with speeding, the age of the driver and seasonality.

Degraded core accidents for the Sizewell PWR A sensitivity analysis of the radiological consequences

CERN Document Server

Kelly, G N; Clarke, R H; Ferguson, L; Haywood, S M; Hemming, C R; Jones, J A

1982-01-01

The radiological impact of degraded core accidents postulated for the Sizewell PWR was assessed in an earlier study. In this report the sensitivity of the predicted consequences to variation in the values of a number of important parameters is investigated for one of the postulated accidental releases. The parameters subjected to sensitivity analyses are the dose-mortality relationship for bone marrow irradiation, the energy content of the release, the warning time before the release to the environment, and the dry deposition velocity for airborne material. These parameters were identified as among the more important in determining the uncertainty in the results obtained in the initial study. With a few exceptions the predicted consequences were found to be not very sensitive to the parameter values investigated, the range of variation in the consequences for the limiting values of each parameter rarely exceeded a factor of a few and in many cases was considerably less. The conclusions reached are, however, p...

Applicability of simplified human reliability analysis methods for severe accidents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boring, R.; St Germain, S. [Idaho National Lab., Idaho Falls, Idaho (United States); Banaseanu, G.; Chatri, H.; Akl, Y. [Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

2016-03-15

Most contemporary human reliability analysis (HRA) methods were created to analyse design-basis accidents at nuclear power plants. As part of a comprehensive expansion of risk assessments at many plants internationally, HRAs will begin considering severe accident scenarios. Severe accidents, while extremely rare, constitute high consequence events that significantly challenge successful operations and recovery. Challenges during severe accidents include degraded and hazardous operating conditions at the plant, the shift in control from the main control room to the technical support center, the unavailability of plant instrumentation, and the need to use different types of operating procedures. Such shifts in operations may also test key assumptions in existing HRA methods. This paper discusses key differences between design basis and severe accidents, reviews efforts to date to create customized HRA methods suitable for severe accidents, and recommends practices for adapting existing HRA methods that are already being used for HRAs at the plants. (author)

Severe accident management guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uhle, Jennifer

2014-01-01

The events at Fukushima Daiichi have highlighted the importance of Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMGs). As the world has learned from the catastrophe and countries are considering changes to their nuclear regulatory programs, the content of SAMGs and their regulatory control are being evaluated. This presentation highlights several factors that are being addressed in the United States as rulemaking is underway pertaining to SAMGs. The question of how to be prepared for the unexpected is discussed with specific insights gleaned from Fukushima. (author)

The management of severe accidents in modern pressure tube reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popov, N.K.; Santamaura, P.; Blahnik, C.; Snell, V.G.; Duffey, R.B.

2007-01-01

Advanced new reactor designs resist severe accidents through a balance between prevention and mitigation. This balance is achieved by designing to ensure that such accidents are very rare; and by limiting core damage progression and releases from the plant in the event of such rare accidents. These design objectives are supported by a suitable combination of probabilistic safety analysis, engineering judgment and experimental and analytical study. This paper describes the approach used for the Advanced CANDU Reactor TM -1000 (ACR-1000) design, which includes provisions to both prevent and mitigate severe accidents. The paper describes the use of PSA as a 'design assist' tool; the analysis of core damage progression pathways; the definition of the core damage states; the capability of the mitigating systems to stop and control severe accident events; and the severe accident management opportunities for consequence reduction. (author)

Iodine behaviour in severe accidents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dutton, L M.C.; Grindon, E; Handy, B J; Sutherland, L [NNC Ltd., Knutsford (United Kingdom); Bruns, W G; Sims, H E [AEA Technology, Harwell (United Kingdom); Dickinson, S [AEA Technology, Winfrith (United Kingdom); Hueber, C; Jacquemain, D [IPSN/CEA, Cadarache, Saint Paul-Lez-Durance (France)

1996-12-01

A description is given of analyses which identify which aspects of the modelling and data are most important in evaluating the release of radioactive iodine to the environment following a potential severe accident at a PWR and which identify the major uncertainties which affect that release. Three iodine codes are used namely INSPECT, IODE and IMPAIR, and their predictions are compared with those of the PSA code MAAP. INSPECT is a mechanistic code which models iodine behaviour in the aqueous aerosol, spray water and sump water, and the partitioning of volatile species between the aqueous phases and containment gas space. Organic iodine is not modelled. IODE and IMPAIR are semi-empirical codes which do not model iodine behaviour in the aqueous aerosol, but model organic iodine. The fault sequences addressed are based on analyses for the Sizewell `B` design. Two types of sequence have been analysed.: (a) those in which a major release of fission products from the primary circuit to the containment occur, e.g. a large LOCAS, (b) those where the release by-passes the containment, e.g. a leak into the auxiliary building. In the analysis of the LOCA sequences where the pH of the sump is controlled to be a value of 8 or greater, all three codes predict that the oxidation of iodine to produce gas phase species does not make a significant contribution to the source term due to leakage from the reactor building and that the latter is dominated by iodide in the aerosol. In the case where the pH of the sump is not controlled, it is found that the proportion of gas phase iodine increases significantly, although the cumulative leakage predicted by all three codes is not significantly different from that predicted by MAAP. The radiolytic production of nitric acid could be a major factor in determining the pH, and if the pH were reduced, the codes predict an increase in gas phase iodine species leaked from the containment. (author) 4 figs., 7 tabs., 13 refs.

Development of severe accident management guidance for Younggwang units 5 and 6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, K. W.; Beon, C. S.; Kim, M. K.; Hong, S. Y.; Park, K. S.

2001-01-01

Severe Accident Management Guidance (SAMG) has been developed for Younggwang Units 5 and 6. It is consisted of Severe Accident Control Room Guideline, Diagnostic Flow Chart, Severe Accident Guideline, Severe Challenge Guideline, TSC Long Term Monitoring, SAMG Termination. Severe Accident Control Room Guideline, which deals with severe accident after finishing Emergency Operation Procedure, consists of acitions before and after TSC actuation. Seven servere accident management strategies are developed. Diagnostic Flow Chart, Severe Accident Guideline, and Severe Challenge Guideline are developed for each strategy, which enables the users to the implementation of strategy easily and systematically. TSC Long Term Monitoring is also developed to monitor long term activities after a particular strategy. Total of 45 set points are developed for decision making during the implementation of the SAMG

Accomplishments and challenges of the severe accident research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sehgal, B.R.

2001-01-01

This paper briefly describes the progress of the severe accident research since 1980, in terms of the accomplishments made so far and the challenges that remain. Much has been accomplished: many important safety issues have been resolved and consensus is near on some others. However, some of the previously identified safety issues remain as challenges, while some new ones have arisen due to the shift in focus from containment to vessel integrity. New reactor designs have also created some new challenges. In general, the regulatory demands for new reactor designs are stricter, thereby requiring much greater attention to the safety issues concerned with the containment design of the new large reactors, and to the accident management procedures for mitigating the consequences of a severe accident. We apologize for not providing references to many fine investigations that contributed to the great progress made so far in the severe accident research

Knowledge data base for severe accident management of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogino, Masao; Kawabe, Ryuhei; Nagasaka, Hideo; Sumida, Susumu; Fukasawa, Masanori; Muta, Hitoshi

2011-01-01

For the reinforcement of the safety of NPPs, the continuous efforts are very important to take in the up-to-date scientific and technical knowledge positively and to reflect them into the safety regulation. The purpose of this present study is to gather effectively the scientific and technical knowledge about the severe accident (SA) phenomena and the accident management (AM) for prevention and mitigation of severe accident, and to take in the experimental data by participating in the international cooperative experiments regarding the important SA phenomena and the effectiveness of accident management. Based on those data and knowledge, JNES is developing and improving severe accident analysis models to maintain the severe accident analysis codes and the accident management knowledge base for assessment of the NPPs in Japan. The activities in fiscal year 2010 are as follows; Experimental study on OECD/NEA projects such as MCCI, SERENA, SFP and international cooperative PSI-ARTIST project, and analytical study on accident management review of new plant and making regulation for severe accident. (author)

Severe accident simulation at Olkiuoto

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tirkkonen, H.; Saarenpaeae, T. [Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), Olkiluoto (Finland); Cliff Po, L.C. [Micro-Simulation Technology, Montville, NJ (United States)

1995-09-01

A personal computer-based simulator was developed for the Olkiluoto nuclear plant in Finland for training in severe accident management. The generic software PCTRAN was expanded to model the plant-specific features of the ABB Atom designed BWR including its containment over-pressure protection and filtered vent systems. Scenarios including core heat-up, hydrogen generation, core melt and vessel penetration were developed in this work. Radiation leakage paths and dose rate distribution are presented graphically for operator use in diagnosis and mitigation of accidents. Operating on an graphically for operator use in diagnosis and mitigation of accidents. Operating on an 486 DX2-66, PCTRAN-TVO achieves a speed about 15 times faster than real-time. A convenient and user-friendly graphic interface allows full interactive control. In this paper a review of the component models and verification runs are presented.

Severe accident testing of a personnel airlock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clauss, D.B.; Parks, M.B.; Julien, J.T.; Peters, S.W.

1988-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) is investigating the leakage potential of mechanical penetrations as part of a research program on containment integrity under severe accident loads for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Barnes et al. (1984) and Shackelford et al. (1985) identified leakage from personnel airlocks as an important failure mode of containments subject to severe accident loads. However, these studies were based on relatively simple analysis methods. The complex structural interaction between the door, gasket, and bulkhead in personnel airlocks makes analytical evaluation of leakage difficult. In order to provide data to validate methods for evaluating the leakage potential, a full-size personnel airlock was subject to simulated severe accident loads consisting of pressure and temperature up to 300 psig and 800 degrees F. The test was conducted at Chicago Bridge and Iron under contract to Sandia. The authors provide a detailed report on the test program

Application of Melcor code for the calculo of TMLB sequence in PWR with natural circulating into the vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marten-Fuertes, F.

1995-01-01

The use of computer codes to analyze the phenomena of severe accidents is very important to take decisions in Nuclear Safety. This paper presents the MELCOR code used to calculate the TMLB sequence of PWR with natural circulation into the vessels. The main goal of this code is its application for the PSA (probabilistic safety analysis)

An overview of selected severe accident research and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammersley, R.J.; Henry, R.E.

2004-01-01

Severe accident research is being conducted world wide by industry organizations, utilities, and regulatory agencies. As this research is disseminated, it is being applied by utilities when they perform their Individual Plant Examinations (IPEs) and consider the preparation of Accident Management programs. The research is associated with phenomenological assessments of containment challenges and associated uncertainties, severe accident codes and analysis tools, systematic evaluation processes, and accident management planning. The continued advancement of this research and its applications will significantly contribute to the enhanced safety and operation of nuclear power plants. (author)

The philosophy of severe accident management in the US

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baratta, A.J.

1990-01-01

The US NRC has put forth the initial steps in what is viewed as the resolution of the severe accident issue. Underlying this process is a fundamental philosophy that if followed will likely lead to an order of magnitude reduction in the risk of severe accidents. Thus far, this philosophy has proven cost effective through improved performance. This paper briefly examines this philosophy and the next step in closure of the severe accident issue, the IPE. An example of the authors experience with determinist. (author)

Neural network-based expert system for severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klopp, G.T.; Silverman, E.B.

1992-01-01

This paper presents the results of the second phase of a three-phase Severe Accident Management expert system program underway at Commonwealth Edison Company (CECo). Phase I successfully demonstrated the feasibility of Artificial Neural Networks to support several of the objectives of severe accident management. Simulated accident scenarios were generated by the Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP) code currently in use by CECo as part of their Individual Plant Evaluations (IPE)/Accident Management Program. The primary objectives of the second phase were to develop and demonstrate four capabilities of neural networks with respect to nuclear power plant severe accident monitoring and prediction. The results of this work would form the foundation of a demonstration system which included expert system performance features. These capabilities included the ability to: (1) Predict the time available prior to support plate (and reactor vessel) failure; (2) Calculate the time remaining until recovery actions were too late to prevent core damage; (3) Predict future parameter values of each of the MAAP parameter variables; and (4) Detect simulated sensor failure and provide best-value estimates for further processing in the presence of a sensor failure. A variety of accident scenarios for the Zion and Dresden plants were used to train and test the neural network expert system. These included large and small break LOCAs as well as a range of transient events. 3 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

Comparative assessment of severe accident risks in the energy sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschberg, S.; Spiekerman, G.; Dones, R.

1997-01-01

This paper addresses one of the major limitations of the current comparative studies of environmental and health impacts of energy systems, i.e. the treatment of severe accidents. The work covers technical aspects of severe accidents and thus primarily reflects an engineering perspective on the energy-related risk issues. The assessments concern full energy chains associated with fossil sources (coal, oil and gas), nuclear power and hydro power. A comprehensive severe accidents database has been established. Thanks to the variety of information sources used, it exhibits in comparison with other corresponding databases a far more extensive coverage of the energy-related accidents. For hypothetical nuclear accidents the probabilistic approach has been employed and extended to cover the economic consequences of power reactor accidents. Results of comparisons between the various energy chains are shown and discussed along with a number of current issues in comparative assessment of severe accidents. As opposed to the previous studies, the aim of the present work has been, to cover whenever possible, a relatively broad spectrum of damage categories of interest. (author) 5 figs., 1 tab., 18 refs

Integral type small PWR with stand-alone safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makihara, Yoshiaki

2001-01-01

A feasibility study is achieved on an integral type small PWR with stand-alone safety. It is designed to have the following features. (1) The coolant does not leak out at any accidental condition. (2) The fuel failure does never occur while it is supposed on the large scale PWR at the design base accident. (3) At any accidental condition the safety is secured without any support from the outside (stand-alone safety secure). (4) It has self-regulating characteristics and easy controllability. The above features can be satisfied by integrate the steam generator and CRDM in the reactor vessel while the pipe line break has to be considered on the conventional PWR. Several counter measures are planned to satisfy the above features. The economy feature is also attained by several simplifications such as (1) elimination of main coolant piping and pressurizer by the integration of primary cooling system and self-pressurizing, (2) elimination of RCP by application of natural circulating system, (3) elimination of ECCS and accumulator by application of static safety system, (4) large scale volume reduction of the container vessel by application of integrated primary cooling system, (5) elimination of boric acid treatment by deletion of chemical shim. The long operation period such as 10 years can be attained by the application of Gd fuel in one batch refueling. The construction period can be shortened by the standardizing the design and the introduction of modular component system. Furthermore the applicability of the reduced modulation core is also considered. (K. Tsuchihashi)

Best-estimate analysis of a loss-of-coolant accident in a four-loop US PWR using TRAC-PD2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ireland, J.R.

1982-01-01

A 200% double-ended cold-leg break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a typical US pressurized water reactor (PWR) was simulated using the Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC-PD2). The reactor system modeled represented a typical US PWR with four loops and cold-leg emergency-core-cooling systems (ECCS). The calculated peak cladding temperature of 950 K occurred during blowdown and the cladding temperature excursion was terminated at 175 s when complete core quenching occurred. Accumulator flows were initiated at 10 s when the system pressure reached 4.08 MPa, and the refill phase ended at 36 s when the lower plenum refilled. During reflood, both bottom and falling film quench fronts were calculated. Top quenching was caused by entrainment from the lower plenum and lower core regions. The entrained liquid was sufficient to form a small, saturated pool (0.3 m deep) above the upper core support plate. Also, some of the entrained liquid was carried out the hot legs and vaporized in the steam generators. Strong multidimensional effects were calculated in the reactor vessel, particularly with respect to rod quenching

PWR pressure vessel integrity during overcooling accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheverton, R.D.

1981-01-01

Pressurized water reactors are susceptible to certain types of hypothetical accidents that under some circumstances, including operation of the reactor beyond a critical time in its life, could result in failure of the pressure vessel as a result of propagation of crack-like defects in the vessel wall. The accidents of concern are those that result in thermal shock to the vessel while the vessel is subjected to internal pressure. Such accidents, referred to as pressurized thermal shock or overcooling accidents (OCA), include a steamline break, small-break LOCA, turbine trip followed by stuck-open bypass valves, the 1978 Rancho Seco and the TMI accidents and many other postulated and actual accidents. The source of cold water for the thermal shock is either emergency core coolant or the normal primary-system coolant. ORNL performed fracture-mechanics calculations for a steamline break in 1978 and for a turbine-trip case in 1980 and concluded on the basis of the results that many more such calculations would be required. To meet the expected demand in a realistic way a computer code, OCA-I, was developed that accepts primary-system temperature and pressure transients as input and then performs one-dimensional thermal and stress analyses for the wall and a corresponding fracture-mechanics analysis for a long axial flaw. The code is briefly described, and its use in both generic and specific plant analyses is discussed

Studies of severe accidents in light-water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

From 10 to 12 November 1986 some 80 delegates met under the auspices of the CEC working group on the safety of light-water reactors. The participants from EC Member States were joined by colleagues from Sweden, Finland and the USA and met to discuss the subject of severe accidents in LWRs. Although this seminar had been planned well before Chernobyl, the ''severe-accident-that-really-happened'' made its mark on the seminar. The four main seminar topics were: (i) high source-term accident sequences identified in PSAs, (ii) containment performance, (iii) mitigation of core melt consequences, (iv) severe accident management in LWRs. In addition to the final panel discussion there was also a separate panel discussion on lessons learned from the Chernobyl accident. These proceedings include the papers presented during the seminar and they are arranged following the seminar programme outline. The presentations and discussions of the two panels are not included in the proceedings. The general conclusions and directions following from these two panels were, however, considered in a seminar review paper which was published in the March 1987 issue of Nuclear Engineering International

Severe accident analysis and management in nuclear fuel cycle facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golshan, Mina

2013-01-01

Within the UK regulatory regime, assessment of risks arising from licensee's activities are expected to cover both normal operations and fault conditions. In order to establish the safety case for fault conditions, fault analysis is expected to cover three forms of analysis: design basis analysis (DBA), probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) and severe accident analysis (SAA). DBA should provide a robust demonstration of the fault tolerance of the engineering design and the effectiveness of the safety measures on a conservative basis. PSA looks at a wider range of fault sequences (on a best estimate basis) including those excluded from the DBA. SAA considers significant but unlikely accidents and provides information on their progression and consequences, within the facility, on the site and off site. The assessment of severe accidents is not limited to nuclear power plants and is expected to be carried out for all plant states where the identified dose targets could be exceeded. This paper sets out the UK nuclear regulatory expectation on what constitutes a severe accident, irrespective of the type of facility, and describes characteristics of severe accidents focusing on nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Key rules in assessment of severe accidents as well as the relationship to other fault analysis techniques are discussed. The role of SAA in informing accident management strategies and offsite emergency plans is covered. The paper also presents generic examples of scenarios that could lead to severe accidents in a range of nuclear fuel cycle facilities. (authors)

Thermal hydraulics of CANDU severe accident analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negut, Gheorghe; Catana, Alexandru; Prisecaru, Ilie; Dupleac, Daniel

2007-01-01

As interest in severe accident studies has increased in the last years, we have developed a set of simple models to analyze severe accidents in CANDU reactors that should be integrated in the EU codes. The CANDU600 reactor uses natural uranium fuel and heavy water (D 2 O) as both moderator and coolant, with the moderator and coolant in separate systems. We chose to analyze accident development for a LOCA with simultaneous loss of moderator cooling and the loss of emergency core cooling system (ECCS). This type of accident is likely to modify the reactor geometry and will lead to a severe accident development. When the coolant temperatures inside a pressure tube reaches 1000 deg. C, a contact between pressure tube and calandria tube occurs and the residual heat is transferred to the moderator. Due to the lack of cooling, the moderator eventually begins to boil and is expelled, through the calandria vessel relief ducts, into the containment. Therefore the calandria tubes (fuel channels) will be uncovered, then will disintegrate and fall down to the calandria vessel bottom. After all the quantity of moderator is vaporized and expelled, the debris will heat up and eventually boil. The heat accumulated in the molten debris will be transferred through the calandria vessel wall to the shield tank water, which normally surrounds the calandria vessel. The phenomena described above are modelled, analyzed and compared with the available data. The results are encouraging. (authors)

Formulating the Canadian regulatory position on severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viktorov, Alex

2006-01-01

In response to the increasing potential of new nuclear build in Canada, and as part of documentation harmonization effort, CNSC staff has initiated development of requirements for design of nuclear power plants. These requirements build both on the IAEA standards, most notably, NS-R-1, and the Canadian practices and experience. The three safety objectives, formulated by the IAEA, are adopted, and Safety Goals are proposed consistent with the international trend. This Canadian standard will require, for the first time, explicit consideration of severe accidents in design and safety assessments. Specific requirements are formulated for several plant systems that assure an effective fourth level of defence in depth. Available results from probabilistic safety assessments indicate that the risks posed by severe accidents are acceptably low. Nevertheless, such risks are not negligible. CNSC staff considers that severe accident management (SAM) represents the most practical way to achieve risk reduction with a moderate effort. Ultimately, SAM actions are aimed at bringing the reactor, and the plant in general, into a controlled and stable state. For the operating reactors, SAM provides an additional defense barrier against the consequences of those accidents that fall beyond the scope of events considered in the reactor design basis. The establishment of a SAM program ensures availability of the information, procedures, and resources necessary to take full advantage of existing plant capabilities to arrest core degradation, and prevent or mitigate large releases of radioactive material. To the extent practicable, a SAM program builds on the existing emergency operating procedures and makes use of the plant design capabilities. On this basis, the CNSC requested nuclear power reactor licensees to develop and implement SAM at all operating reactors. To be able to demonstrate compliance with requirements for plant design and severe accident management, it is necessary to

Containment pressure monitoring method after severe accident in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Chuanjie; Zhang Shishui

2011-01-01

The containment atmosphere monitoring system in nuclear power plant was designed on the basis of design accident. But containment pressure will increase greatly in a severe accident, and pressure instrument in the containment can't satisfy the monitoring requirement. A new method to monitor the pressure change in the containment after a severe accident was considered, through which accident soften methods can be adopted. Under present technical condition, adding a pressure monitoring channel out of containment for post-severe accident is a considerable method. Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant implemented this modification, by which the containment release time can be delayed during severe accident, and nuclear safety can be increased. After analysis, this method is safe and feasible. (authors)

External and internal accidents in PWR power plants. Comparison of current regulations in Belgium, United States, France, Federal Republic of Germany and United Kingdom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maere, G. de; Roch, M.; Cavaco, A.; Preat, M.

1986-01-01

In this report a comparison is made of the rules and practices applied in various countries (Belgium, France, Federal Republic of Germany, United Kingdom and United States of America) in designing PWR plants to resist natural hazards (first part of the report) and hazards associated with human activities (second part). The third part of the report deals with the practices in different countries concerning the protection against accidents of internal origin [fr

Modeling of hydrogen behaviour in a PWR nuclear power plant containment with the CONTAIN code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bobovnik, G.; Kljenak, I.

2001-01-01

Hydrogen behavior in the containment during a severe accident in a two-loop Westinghouse-type PWR nuclear power plant was simulated with the CONTAIN code. The accident was initiated with a cold-leg break of the reactor coolant system in a steam generator compartment. In the input model, the containment is represented with 34 cells. Beside hydrogen concentration, the containment atmosphere temperature and pressure and the carbon monoxide concentration were observed as well. Simulations were carried out for two different scenarios: with and without successful actuation of the containment spray system. The highest hydrogen concentration occurs in the containment dome and near the hydrogen release location in the early stages of the accident. Containment sprays do not have a significant effect on hydrogen stratification.(author)

Full-length fuel rod behavior under severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lombardo, N.J.; Lanning, D.D.; Panisko, F.E.

1992-12-01

This document presents an assessment of the severe accident phenomena observed from four Full-Length High-Temperature (FLHT) tests that were performed by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) in the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. These tests were conducted for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as part of the Severe Accident Research Program. The objectives of the test were to simulate conditions and provide information on the behavior of full-length fuel rods during hypothetical, small-break, loss-of-coolant severe accidents, in commercial light water reactors

System 80+ design features for severe accident prevention and mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacob, M.C.; Schneider, R.E.; Finnicum, D.J.

1993-01-01

ABB-CE, in cooperation with the US Department of Energy, is working to develop and certify the System 80+ design, which is ABB-CE's standardized evolutionary Advanced Light Water Reactor (ALWR) design. It incorporates design enhancements based on Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) insights, guidance from the EPRI's Utility Requirements Document, and US NRC's Severe Accident Policy. Major severe accident prevention and mitigation design features of the system is discussed along with its conformance to EPRI URD guidance, as applicable. Computer simulation of a best estimate severe accident scenario is presented to illustrate the acceptable containment performance of the design. It is concluded that by considering severe accident prevention and mitigation early in the design process, the System 80+ design represents a robust plant design that has low core damage frequencies, low containment conditional failure probabilities, and acceptable deterministic containment performance under severe accident conditions

Simulation of operator's actions during severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viktorov, A.

2015-01-01

Implementing accident management counter measures or actions to mitigate consequences of a severe accident is essential to reduce radiological risks to the public and environment. Station-specific severe accident management guidelines (SAMGs) have been developed and implemented at all Canadian nuclear power plants. Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident certain enhancements were introduced to the SAMG, namely consideration of multi-units accidents, events involving spent fuel pools, incorporation of capability offered by the portable emergency mitigating equipment, and so on. To evaluate the adequacy and usability of the SAMGs, CNSC staff initiated a number of activities including a desktop review of SAMG documentation, evaluation of SAMG implementation through exercises and interviews with station staff, and independent verification of SAMG action effectiveness. This paper focuses on the verification of SAMG actions through analytical simulations. The objectives of the work are two-folds: (a) to understand the effectiveness of SAMG-specified mitigation actions in addressing the safety challenges and (b) to check for potential negative effects of the action. Some sensitivity calculations were performed to help understanding of the impact from actions that rely on the partially effective equipment or limited material resources. The severe accident computer code MAAP4-CANDU is used as a tool in this verification. This paper will describe the methodology used in the verification of SAMG actions and some results obtained from simulations. (author)

Geographic analysis of road accident severity index in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Iyanda, Ayodeji E

2018-05-28

Before 2030, deaths from road traffic accidents (RTAs) will surpass cerebrovascular disease, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Yet, there is little knowledge on the geographic distribution of RTA severity in Nigeria. Accident Severity Index is the proportion of deaths that result from a road accident. This study analysed the geographic pattern of RTA severity based on the data retrieved from Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The study predicted a two-year data from a historic road accident data using exponential smoothing technique. To determine spatial autocorrelation, global and local indicators of spatial association were implemented in a geographic information system. Results show significant clusters of high RTA severity among states in the northeast and the northwest of Nigeria. Hence, the findings are discussed from two perspectives: Road traffic law compliance and poor emergency response. Conclusion, the severity of RTA is high in the northern states of Nigeria, hence, RTA remains a public health concern.

The DOE technology development programme on severe accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neuhold, R.J.; Moore, R.A.; Theofanous, T.G.

1998-01-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is sponsoring a programme in technology development aimed at resolving the technical issues in severe accident management strategies for advanced and evolutionary light water reactors (LWRs). The key objective of this effort is to achieve a robust defense-in-depth at the interface between prevention and mitigation of severe accidents. The approach taken towards this goal is based on the Risk Oriented Accident Analysis Methodology (ROAAM). Applications of ROAAM to the severe accident management strategy for the US AP600 advanced LWR have been effective both in enhancing the design and in achieving acceptance of the conclusions and base technology developed in the course of the work. This paper presents an overview of that effort and its key technical elements

Fuel behaviour in the case of severe accidents and potential ATF designs. Fuel Behavior in Severe Accidents and Potential Accident Tolerance Fuel Designs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Bo

2013-01-01

This presentation reviews the conditions of fuel rods under severe loss of coolant conditions, approaches that may increase coping time for plant operators to recover, requirements of advanced fuel cladding to increase tolerance in accident conditions, potential candidate alloys for accident-tolerant fuel cladding and a novel design of molybdenum (Mo) -based fuel cladding. The current Zr-alloy fuel cladding will lose all its mechanical strength at 750-800 deg. C, and will react rapidly with high-pressure steam, producing significant hydrogen and exothermic heat at 700-1000 deg. C. The metallurgical properties of Zr make it unlikely that modifications of the Zr-alloy will improve the behaviour of Zr-alloys at temperatures relevant to severe accidents. The Mo-based fuel cladding is designed to (1) maintain fuel rod integrity, and reduce the release rate of hydrogen and exothermic heat in accident conditions at 1200-1500 deg. C. The EPRI research has thus far completed the design concepts, demonstration of feasibility of producing very thin wall (0.2 mm) Mo tubes. The feasibility of depositing a protective coating using various techniques has also been demonstrated. Demonstration of forming composite Mo-based cladding via mechanical reduction has been planned

Computer codes for the study of the loss of coolant accident of PWR reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomolinski, M.; Menessier, D.; Tellier, N.

1975-01-01

The CEA has undertaken a large programme to study the consequence on the core of the LOCA of a PWR. In the programme, simultaneously carried out experiments and the development of the calculations means are described. Several experiments such as OMEGA, ERSEC and PHEBUS tests, which provide data to check the computer codes are outlined briefly in the paper. For analysis of the LOCA of a PWR, a series of computer codes, which are at present in use or under development, are linked with each other. The codes are DANAIDES for blowdown, CERES for refill and reflood, THETA-1B and FLIRA for heat up calculation during the blow-down and the reflooding period respectively. FLIRA-PASTEL, a combination of FLIRA and PASTEL which calculate the stress and deformations of material using the finite element method, will be used in place of FLIRA. The basic models and flowcharts of the above codes are described in the paper

Benchmarking severe accident computer codes for heavy water reactor applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, J.H. [International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)

2010-07-01

Consideration of severe accidents at a nuclear power plant (NPP) is an essential component of the defence in depth approach used in nuclear safety. Severe accident analysis involves very complex physical phenomena that occur sequentially during various stages of accident progression. Computer codes are essential tools for understanding how the reactor and its containment might respond under severe accident conditions. International cooperative research programmes are established by the IAEA in areas that are of common interest to a number of Member States. These co-operative efforts are carried out through coordinated research projects (CRPs), typically 3 to 6 years in duration, and often involving experimental activities. Such CRPs allow a sharing of efforts on an international basis, foster team-building and benefit from the experience and expertise of researchers from all participating institutes. The IAEA is organizing a CRP on benchmarking severe accident computer codes for heavy water reactor (HWR) applications. The CRP scope includes defining the severe accident sequence and conducting benchmark analyses for HWRs, evaluating the capabilities of existing computer codes to predict important severe accident phenomena, and suggesting necessary code improvements and/or new experiments to reduce uncertainties. The CRP has been planned on the advice and with the support of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Department's Technical Working Groups on Advanced Technologies for HWRs. (author)

First international workshop on severe accidents and their consequences. [Chernobyl Accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1989-07-01

An international workshop on past severe nuclear accidents and their consequences was held in Dagomys region of Sochi, USSR on October 30--November 3, 1989. The plan of this meeting was approved by the USSR Academy of Sciences and by the USSR State Committee of the Utilization of Atomic Energy. The meeting was held under the umbrella of the ANS-SNS agreement of cooperation. Topics covered include analysis of the Chernobyl accident, safety measures for RBMK type reactors and consequences of the Chernobyl accident including analysis of the ecological, genetic and psycho-social factors. Separate reports are processed separately for the data bases. (CBS)

An analysis of severe air transport accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClure, J.D.; Luna, R.E.

1989-01-01

The objective of this paper is to analyze the severity of aircraft accidents that may involve the air transport of radioactive materials (RAM). One of the basic aims of this paper is to provide a numerical description of the severity of aircraft transport accidents so that the accident severity can be compared with the accident performance standards that are specified in IAEA Safety Series 6, the international packaging standards for the safe movement of RAM. The existing packaging regulations in most countries embrace the packaging standards developed by the IAEA. Historically, the packaging standards for Type B packages have been independent of the transport mode. That is, if the shipment occurs in a certified packaging, then the shipment can take place by any transport mode. In 1975, a legislative action occurred in the US Congress which led to the development of a package designed specifically for the air transport of plutonium. Changes were subsequently made to the US packaging regulations in 10CFR71 to incorporate the plutonium air transport performance standards. These standards were used to certify the air transport package for plutonium which is commonly referred to as PAT-1 (US NRC). The PAT-1 was certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in September 1978

ANS severe accident program overview & planning document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taleyarkhan, R.P.

1995-09-01

The Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) severe accident document was developed to provide a concise and coherent mechanism for presenting the ANS SAP goals, a strategy satisfying these goals, a succinct summary of the work done to date, and what needs to be done in the future to ensure timely licensability. Guidance was received from various bodies [viz., panel members of the ANS severe accident workshop and safety review committee, Department of Energy (DOE) orders, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements for ALWRs and advanced reactors, ACRS comments, world-wide trends] were utilized to set up the ANS-relevant SAS goals and strategy. An in-containment worker protection goal was also set up to account for the routine experimenters and other workers within containment. The strategy for achieving the goals is centered upon closing the severe accident issues that have the potential for becoming certification issues when assessed against realistic bounding events. Realistic bounding events are defined as events with an occurrency frequency greater than 10{sup {minus}6}/y. Currently, based upon the level-1 probabilistic risk assessment studies, the realistic bounding events for application for issue closure are flow blockage of fuel element coolant channels, and rapid depressurization-related accidents.

Vaporization of structural materials in severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenz, R.A.

1982-01-01

Vaporized structural materials form the bulk of aerosol particles that can transport fission products in severe LWR accidents. As part of the Severe Accident Sequence Analysis (SASA) program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a model has been developed based on a mass transport coefficient to describe the transport of materials from the surface of a molten pool. In many accident scenarios, the coefficient can be calculated from existing correlations for mass transfer by natural convection. Data from SASCHA fuel melting tests (Karlsruhe, Germany) show that the partial pressures of many of the melt components (Fe, Cr, Co, Mn, Sn) required for the model can be calculated from the vapor pressures of the pure species and Raoult's law. These calculations indicate much lower aerosol concentrations than reported in previous studies