Design and behaviour of French containments

In this report, the point is made that the French nuclear installations have two types of containments:

• - The first consisting of a pre-stressed concrete inner containment with a leakproof liner.

• - The second consisting of a pre-stressed concrete inner containment without a leaktight liner and an outer containment of reinforced concrete concentric with the former. The space between the two containments is maintained at a negative pressure, to intercept any leaks from the internal containment, which are filtered and discharged outside in the event of an accident.

After covering the mechanical design of these two types of containments, this report examines the existing safety margins for aircraft crashes and explosions resulting from the industrial environment.The report then considers in greater detail the leaktightness results of the double containments obtained during acceptance tests, as well as the leaktightness conditions while the reactor is operating.Finally, the report describes, for the case of containments with leakproof liners, the conditions of aging of the concrete and the associated pre-stressing.     

Current state of knowledge on the behavior of steel liners in concrete containments subjected to overpressurization loads

In the US, concrete containment buildings for commercial nuclear power plants have steel liners that act as the internal pressure boundary. The liner abuts the concrete, acting as the interior concrete form. The liner is attached to the concrete by either studs or by a continuous structural shape (such as a T-section or channel) that is either continuously or intermittently welded to the liner. Studs are commonly used in reinforced concrete containments, while prestressed containments utilize a structural element as the anchorage. The practice in some countries follows the US practice, while in other countries the containment does not have a steel liner. In this latter case, there is a true double containment, and the annular region between the two containments is vented.This paper will review the practice of design of the liner system prior to the consideration of severe accident loads (overpressurization loads beyond the design conditions).An overpressurization test of a 1:6 scale reinforced concrete containment at Sandia National Laboratories resulted in a failure mechanism in the liner that was not fully anticipated. Post-test analyses and experiments have been conducted to understand the failure better. This work and the activities that followed the test are reviewed. Areas in which additional research should be conducted are given.     

Methods for assessing NPP containment pressure boundary integrity

Research is being conducted to address aging of the containment pressure boundary in light-water reactor plants. Objectives of this research are to (1) understand the significant factors relating to corrosion occurrence, efficacy of inspection, and structural capacity reduction of steel containments and of liners of concrete containments; (2) provide the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) reviewers a means of establishing current structural capacity margins or estimating future residual structural capacity margins for steel containments and concrete containments as limited by liner integrity; and (3) provide recommendations, as appropriate, on information to be requested of licensees for guidance that could be utilized by USNRC reviewers in assessing the seriousness of reported incidences of containment degradation. Activities include development of a degradation assessment methodology; reviews of techniques and methods for inspection and repair of containment metallic pressure boundaries; evaluation of candidate techniques for inspection of inaccessible regions of containment metallic pressure boundaries; establishment of a methodology for reliability-based condition assessments of steel containments and liners; and fragility assessments of steel containments with localized corrosion.     

Construction of a concrete containment model

This paper discusses the features and construction of a reinforced-concrete containment model that has been built at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The model Light-Water-Reactor (LWR) containment building was designed and built to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code by United Engineers and Constructors, Inc. The containment model will be tested to failure to determine its response to static internal overpressurization. The results from testing the heavily instrumented containment will be used to assess the capability of analytical methods for predicting the performance of containments subject to severe accident loads as part of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's program on containment integrity.The scaled dimensions of the cylindrical wall and hemispherical dome are typical of a full-size containment. Features representative of a prototypical containment and included in the heavily reinforced model are equipment hatches, personnel airlocks, several small piping penetrations, and a thin steel liner attached to the concrete by headed studs.     

Effects of permissible shear stress on the design and construction of reinforced concrete containments

Provisions for peripheral, radial, and tangential shear have been conservatively established in the ASME Section III Division 2 Code. The design and construction of reinforced concrete containments to the shear provisions in this Code have resulted in extreme congestion of reinforcement and the associated difficulty in the placement of concrete. This is due to the low permissible shear stresses in the Code. Recent tests have demonstrated that the shear provisions are conservative. However, additional testing is required to quantify all aspects of containment behavior in shear. In this paper, those loads and load combinations that generally govern shear design are reviewed. For these loads, containment behavior is qualitatively discussed. Present Code provisions for allowable shear stresses, including Code Cases, are reviewed with illustrations provided of actual congested regions of containments designed to these provisions. The need for additional testing and for the development of new shear criteria is established.     

Tangential shear design in reinforced concrete containments—Research results and applications

Reinforced concrete containments at nuclear power plants are designed to resist forces caused by internal pressure, gravity, and severe earthquakes. The size, shape, and possible stress states in containments produce unique problems for design and construction. A lack of experimental data on the capacity of reinforced concrete to transfer shear stresses while subjected to biaxial tension, has led to cumbersome if not impractical design criteria. Research programs recently conducted at the Construction Technology Laboratories and at Cornell University indicate that design criteria for tangential shear are conservative.This paper discusses results from recent research and presents proposed changes for tangential shear design provisions of the current United States code for containment structures.     

Research status and needs for shear tests on large-scale reinforced concrete containment elements

Reinforced concrete containments at nuclear power plants are designed to resist forces caused by internal pressure, gravity, and severe earthquakes. The size, shape, and possible stress states in containments produce unique problems for design and construction. A lack of experimental data on the capacity of reinforced concrete to transfer shear stresses while subjected to biaxial tension has led to cumbersome if not impractical design criteria. Research programs recently conducted at the Construction Technology Laboratories and at Cornell University indicate that design criteria for tangential, peripheral, and radial shear are conservative.This paper discusses results from recent research and presents tentative changes for shear design provisions of the current United States code for containment structures. Areas where information is still lacking to fully verify new design provisions are discussed. Needs for further experimental research on large-scale specimens to develop economical, practical, and reliable design criteria for resisting shear forces in containment are identified.     

Tension tests of concrete containment wall elements

Tension tests of concrete containment wall elements were conducted as part of a three-phase research program sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The objective of the EPRI experimental/analytical program is twofold. The first objective is to provide the utility industry with a test-verified analytical method for making realistic estimates of actual capacities of reinforced and prestressed concrete containments under internal over-pressurization from postulated degraded core accidents. The second objective is to determine qualitative and quantitative leak rate characteristics of typical containment cross-sections with and without penetrations. This paper covers the experimental portion the the EPRI program.The testing program for Phase 1 included eight large-scale specimens representing elements from the wall of a containment. Each specimen was 60-in (1525-mm) square, 24-in (610-mm) thick, and had full-size reinforcing bars. Six specimens were representative of prototypical reinforced concrete containment designs. The remaining two specimens represented prototypical prestressed containment designs.Various reinforcement configurations and loading arrangements resulted in data that permit comparisons of the effects of controlled variables on cracking and subsequent concrete/reinforcement/liner interaction in containment elements.Subtle differences, due to variations in reinforcement patterns and load applications among the eight specimens, are being used to benchmark the codes being developed in the analytical portion of the EPRI program.Phases 2 and 3 of the test program will examine leak rate characteristics and failure mechanisms at penetrations and structural discontinuities.     

Design criteria for liners of concrete vessels of future HTRs

The paper summarizes the work on design criteria for liners of Prestressed Concrete Reactor Vessels (PCRVs), which has been carried out by several German institutions from 1984 to 1988 within a future High Temperature Reactor (HTR) research project.The liner is discussed as part of the concept guaranteeing the integrity of the safe enclosure of the cooling medium. Its main function is leak-tightness during the whole lifetime of the power station. On the basis of the minor safety function of the composite liner compared to that of the prestressed concrete structure with its pressure bearing function and its integrity requirements the combined action and its effects between the liner and the concrete structure has been worked out. As it is shown the composite structure ‘steel liner + anchorage + concrete structure’ guarantees a high safety of the liner.The results deal with general and special requirements to the liner-anchor-system with regard to material, design details, analytical methods, fabrication and testing.     

Analytical correlation and interpretation of full scale containment specimen tests

The work presented in this paper is part of an EPRI-sponsored research program to develop experimentally verified methodology for predicting failure modes and leakage characteristics of concrete containments. This paper deals specifically with recent results of the analytical correlation and interpretation of full scale containment specimen tests. The tests under consideration are a wall/skirt-basemat specimen of a typical prestressed concrete containment, a specimen with a flawed liner to study liner crack growth, and a specimen with a typical steampipe penetration. Computational models of specimens are described, and pre-test and post-test analysis results are presented. The importance of local effects is discussed, and the role of specimen tests and analysis in failure prediction of containment structures is summarized.     

Synopsis of the results from overpressurizing a reinforced concrete containment model

Sandia National Laboratories completed the testing of a 1:6-scale containment building for a light water reactor in July 1987. Results from this and other containment model testing are being used by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to benchmark analytical techniques. The validated techniques can then be used to predict the behavior of actual nuclear power plant containments to a variety of hypothesized severe accidents.The most recent containment building tested was made of reinforced concrete and had many of the features found in full-size containments. Testing consistent of a structural integrity test, and integrated leak rate test, and concluded with an overpressurization test of the structure. Highlights of the results from the overpressurization of the containment model are presented.     

Seismic effects in secondary containments: Research needs

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the status of current and projected research on the behavior of nonprestressed secondary containment structures carrying combined pressurization and seismic shear. Ongoing experimental research at Cornell University on specimens carrying combined biaxial tension and static cyclic shear is described. The remainder of the paper treats research needed to better predict the response of containments to seismic effects and to serve as the basis for improved design methods for reinforced concrete containments.     

Numerical algorithm for local failure mechanism of pre-stressed concrete containment vessel wall with penetration

The pre-stressed concrete containment vessel is one of the most important structures in nuclear power plants, which is required to prevent release of fission products to the environment even in the case of a severe accident. This paper deals with existing problems concerning numerical analysis for reinforced concrete composite structures. Finite element spatial and consistent material discretizations are summarized to solve these types of problem. Simple and real complex problems are illustrated in numerical experiments.     

Some considerations to the failure analysis of a pointwise attached steel liner membrane under constraint load

In the application of reinforced or prestressed concrete reactor containments, the safety enclosure will be obtained through a steel liner membrane, which is attached pointwise to the interior concrete surface. It is the objective and aim of this study to analyse the overall structural behavior of the bonded system consisting of concrete containment, studs, and steel liner—especially under the aspect of extreme load and deformation conditions. The parametric analysis is carried out on the basis of the geometric length/depth ratio of a single liner field. In order to reduce the considerable computational effort to a minimum, it is necessary to decouple the overall system in its structural components, i.e., at first an imperfect predeflected ‘buckling’ field and the residual ‘plane’ liner field are considered separately. A further reduction enablesm the use of stud anchor characteristics which are based on experiments. Three-dimensional analyses are performed for the single ‘buckling’ field to obtain specific load-displacement functions; the residual plane system is considered with two- as well as one-dimensional models. For the comprehensive parametric evaluation of the overall system behaviour, a linear model is assumed to which these load-displacement functions are applied. Constraint temperatures are introduced as a unit scale—up to failure of the overall system; hereby partial structural failure might lead to temporary relief.     

Pneumatic pressure tests of steel containment models — Recent developments

This paper describes the results of recent pneumatic pressure tests of steel containment models. These tests are part of the Containment Integrity Program whose objective is the qualification of methods for predicting containment response during severe accidents and extreme environments. Sandia National Laboratories is conducting this combined experimental and analytical program for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The long-range plans for the program include the following three containment loading conditions: static internal pressurization, dynamic internal pressurization, and seismic loadings. Steel, reinforced concrete, and prestressed concrete containment types are being considered.In the present experimental effort, models of steel containment structures are being subjected to static internal pressurization. The first set of models are about the size of hybrid-steel containments. Tests of these models are nearly finished. Testing of a large steel model, about of full size, will complete the static pressure experiments with steel models. Analysis of the models is paralleling the experimental effort.The Containment Integrity Program is being coordinated with other NRC programs on potential leakage of penetrations in containments. The results from all of the programs should provide a basis for predicting the structural and leakage behavior of containments during temperature and internal pressure loadings.     

Design considerations for concrete containments under severe accident loads

Many existing containments in the United States have been shown to accommodate credible severe accident loads. Future containments should be explicitly designed for severe accident loads to reduce the uncertainty associated with the response of containments to these low-probability events. This paper examines the experiences from the application of current structural design codes for concrete containments, ultimate pressure capacity evaluation of existing containments, and pressure fragility testing of scale model concrete containments to arrive at the directions for modification of national codes. Recommendations are provided to consider the severe accidents directly in the concrete containment design.     

Ultimate capacity of a mark II primary containment using new probabilistic failure criteria

In the past few years, new failure criteria to determine the ultimate capacity of nuclear primary containments associated with exceeding probability have been developed. In this paper, a study concerning the Laguna Verde Mark II reinforced concrete containment is reported. This study was accomplished using an advanced non-linear constitutive and finite element model. Analyses were performed for beyond-original-design pressure and temperature assumptions. The paper describes the non-linear analysis methodology, the various failure criteria, and the application of the results in a probabilistic framework. The probabilistic approach addresses criteria for predicting liner tear, penetration failure, and through-wall shear failure. It attempts to assign reasonable estimates of leak area to different failure mechanisms and it allows the evaluation of conditional probabilities for the postulated severe accidents selected.     

Ultimate analysis of BWR Mark III reinforced concrete containment subjected to internal pressure

Numerical analyses are carried out by using the ABAQUS finite element program to predict the ultimate pressure capacity and the failure mode of the BWR Mark III reinforced concrete containment at Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant, Taiwan, R.O.C. Material nonlinearity such as concrete cracking, tension stiffening, shear retention, concrete plasticity, yielding of reinforcing steel, yielding of liner plate and degradation of material properties as a result of high temperature effects are all simulated with proper constitutive models. Geometric nonlinearity as a result of finite deformation has also been considered. The results of the analysis show that when the reinforced concrete containment fails, extensive cracks take place at the apex of the dome, the intersection of the dome and the cylinder and the lower part of cylinder where there is a discontinuity in the thickness of the containment. In addition, the ultimate pressure capacity of the containment is 23.9 psi and is about 59% higher than the design pressure 15 psi.     

Two types of a passive safety containment for a near future BWR with active and passive safety systems

The paper presents two types of a passive safety containment for a near future BWR. They are named Mark S and Mark X containment. One of their common merits is very low peak pressure at severe accidents without venting the containment atmosphere to the environment. The PCV pressure can be moderated within the design pressure. Another merit is the capability to submerge the PCV and the RPV above the core level. The third merit is robustness against external events such as a large commercial airplane crash. Both the containments have a passive cooling core catcher that has radial cooling channels. The Mark S containment is made of reinforced concrete and applicable to a large power BWR up to 1830 MWe. The Mark X containment has the steel secondary containment and can be cooled by natural circulation of outside air. It can accommodate a medium power BWR up to 1380 MWe. In both cases the plants have active and passive safety systems constituting in-depth hybrid safety (IDHS). The IDHS provides not only hardware diversity between active and passive safety systems but also more importantly diversity of the ultimate heat sinks between the atmosphere and the sea water. Although the plant concept discussed in the paper uses well-established technology, plant performance including economy is innovatively and evolutionally improved. Nothing is new in the hardware but everything is new in the performance.