Comparison of and TCE calculations for direct containment heating of Surry

This paper presents the results of several CONTAIN code calculations used to model direct containment heating (DCH) loads for the Surry plant. The results of these calculations are compared with the results obtained using the two-cell equilibrium (TCE) model for the same set of initial and boundary conditions. This comparison is important because both models have been favorably validated against the available DCH database, yet there are potentially important modeling differences. The comparisons are to quantitatively assess the impact of these differences. A major conclusion of this study is that, for the accident conditions studied and for a broad range of sensitivity cases, the peak pressures predicted by both TCE and are well below the failure pressure for the Surry containment.     

三代压水堆核电厂DCH参数敏感性研究

安全壳直接加热（DCH）是导致安全壳早期超压的主要贡献之一,严重威胁安全壳完整性,并可能造成放射性物质早期大量不可控释放。本文以我国某三代压水堆为研究对象,首先基于风险导向的事故分析方法（ROAAM）,利用双隔间平衡（TCE）模型编写程序计算典型事故工况下的DCH载荷;其次结合安全壳失效概率曲线得出DCH现象造成的安全壳失效概率;最后对计算程序中不易得到的参数或经验值等不确定性较大的参数进行敏感性分析,归纳敏感性分析结果,找出敏感参数的不确定因素。结果表明：熔融物质量、堆腔几何设计、安全壳布置设计会直接影响DCH后果。     

全厂断电时安全壳直接加热的概率研究

安全壳直接加热(DCH)是导致安全壳早期失效的潜在因素,本文应用基于风险导向的事故分析方法(ROAAM),对堆芯碎片中UO_2的质量和Zr的氧化份额的概率密度分布抽样,对安全壳直接加热模型TCE(Two-cell Equilibrium)编程,将抽样结果带人TCE模型中计算,得到安全壳压力峰值的累积概率分布和安全壳失效概率,研究压水堆全厂断电始发事故下轴封破口面积不同的情况对下封头失效后安全壳压力峰值的影响。其中TCE模型的输入数据由严重事故分析程序计算给出。     

Investigations into the physical phenomena and mechanisms that effect direct containment heating loads

Integral direct containment heating (DCH) experiment results are presented. The results are analyzed and discussed for the insights they have given into understanding the important physical phenomena and mechanisms that effect DCH loads to the containment. Particular attention is paid to (1) debris dispersal from the cavity and containment structure trapping, (2) hydrogen production and combustion, (3) the importance of difference in corium simulants used in integral DCH experiments and (4) corium debris quenching by flooded cavities. It is found that much has been learned about DCH phenomena that can be used for modeling and assessing potential containment loads.     

Direct containment heating integral effects tests in geometries of European nuclear power plants

The DISCO test facility at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) has been used to perform experiments to investigate direct containment heating (DCH) effects during a severe accident in European nuclear power plants, comprising the EPR, the French 1300 MWe plant P’4, the VVER-1000 and the German Konvoi plant. A high-temperature iron–alumina melt is ejected by steam into scaled models of the respective reactor cavities and the containment vessel. Both heat transfer from dispersed melt and combustion of hydrogen lead to containment pressurization. The main experimental findings are presented and critical parameters are identified.The consequences of DCH are limited in reactors with no direct pathway between the cavity and the containment dome (closed pit). The situation is more severe for reactors which do have a direct pathway between the cavity and the containment (open pit). The experiments showed that substantial fractions of corium may be dispersed into the containment in such cases, if the pressure in the reactor coolant system is elevated at the time of RPV failure. Primary system pressures of 1 or 2 MPa are sufficient to lead to full scale DCH effects. Combustion of the hydrogen produced by oxidation as well as the hydrogen initially present appears to be the crucial phenomenon for containment pressurization.     

Experimental simulation of corium dispersion phenomena in direct containment heating

In a direct containment heating (DCH) accident scenario, the degree of corium dispersion is one of the most significant factors responsible for the reactor containment heating and pressurization. To study the mechanisms of the corium dispersion phenomenon, a DCH separate effect test facility of 1:10 linear scale for Zion PWR geometry is constructed. Experiments are carried out with air-water and air-woods metal simulating steam and molten core materials. The physical process of corium dispersion is studied in detail through various instruments, as well as with flow visualization at several locations. The accident transient begins with the liquid jet discharge at the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel. Once the jet impinges on the cavity bottom floor, it immediately spreads out and moves rapidly to the cavity exit as a film flow. Part of the discharged liquid flows out of the cavity before gas blowdown, and the rest is subjected to the entrainment process due to the high speed gas stream. The liquid film and droplet flows from the reactor cavity will then experience subcompartment trapping and re-entrainment. Consequently, the dispersed liquid droplets that follow the gas stream are transported into the containment atmosphere, resulting in containment heating and pressurization in the prototypic condition. Comprehensive measurements are obtained in this study, including the liquid jet velocity, liquid film thickness and velocity transients in the test cavity, gas velocity and velocity profile in the cavity, droplet size distribution and entrainment rate, and the fraction of dispersed liquid in the containment building. These data are of great importance for better understanding of the corium dispersion mechanisms.     

Detailed Evaluation of RCS Boundary Rupture during High-Pressure Severe Accident Sequences

A depressurization possibility of the reactor coolant system (RCS) before a reactor vessel rupture during a high-pressure severe accident sequence has been evaluated for the consideration of direct containment heating (DCH) and containment bypass. A total loss of feed water (TLOFW) and a station blackout (SBO) of the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR1400) has been evaluated from an initiating event to a creep rupture of the RCS boundary by using the SCDAP/RELAP5 computer code. In addition, intentional depressurization of the RCS using power-operated safety relief valves (POSRVs) has been evaluated. The SCDAPRELAP5 results have shown that the pressurizer surge line broke before the reactor vessel rupture failure, but a containment bypass did not occur because steam generator U tubes did not break. The intentional depressurization of the RCS using POSRV was effective for the DCH prevention at a reactor vessel rupture.     

Direct containment heating experiments for Vandellos and ASCo nuclear power plants

The ongoing IPE studies for the Vandellos and ASCo nuclear power plants require evaluation of accident phenomena that have been perceived to potentially challenge containment integrity including direct containment heating (DCH). Analyses and scaled experiments performed to date indicated that the lower containment structures play a substantial role in mitigating the extent of DCH given a high pressure melt ejection. Since the geometry is judged to be of major importance, linearly scaled experiments were conceived and conducted to evaluate the role of such structures in the Vandellos and ASCo specific configurations. The Vandellos test configuration with an initally dry cavity and significant exhaust area for the instrument tunnel resulted in the dispersal of a majority of the debris from the instrument tunnel into the lower compartment. The test of the ASCo configuration with an initially wet reactor cavity and limited exhaust area from the instrument tunnel exhibited the retention of the majority of the debris within the instrument tunnel and reactor cavity. The observed pressure responses in these scaled experiments for the seal table room, lower containment vessel, and upper containment vessel were all less than the containment design basis pressure. These test results contribute to the existing technical basis for concluding that direct containment heating would not represent a challenge to the integrity of these containments.     

Effect analysis of the intentional depressurization on fission product behavior during TMLB' severe accident

It has been found that the pressure in the reactor coolant system (RCS) remains high in some severe accident sequences at the time of reactor vessel failure, with the risk of causing direct containment heating (DCH).Intentional depressurization is an effective accident management strategy to prevent DCH or to mitigate its consequences. Fission product behavior is affected by intentional depressurization, especially for inert gas and volatile fission product. Because the pressurizer power-operated relief valves (PORVs) are latched open, fission product will transport into the containment directly. This may cause larger radiological consequences in containment before reactor vessel failure. Four cases are selected, including the TMLB' base case and the opening one, two and three pressurizer PORVs. The results show that inert gas transports into containment more quickly when opening one and two PORVs,but more slowly when opening three PORVs; more volatile fission product deposit in containment and less in reactor coolant system (RCS) for intentional depressurization cases. When opening one PORV, the phenomenon of revaporization is strong in the RCS.     

Closure of the direct containment heating issue for Zion

This paper, which was originally published in more detail (M.M. Pilch, M.D. Allen, D.L. Knudsen, D.W. Stamps and E.L. Tadios, Rep. NUREG/CR-6075, Supplement 1, 1994b (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM)), provides closure of the direct containment heating (DCH) issue for the Zion plant. It incorporates the comments and suggestions of the peer reviewers of NUREG/CR-6075 (M.M. Pilch, H. Yan, and T.G. Theofanous, Rep. NUREG/CR-6075, SAND93-1535, 1994a (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM)) and specifically includes assessments of four new splinter scenarios defined in working group meetings and modeling enhancements recommended by the working groups. In the four new scenarios, consistency of the initial conditions has been implemented by using insights from systems-level codes. was used to analyze three short-term station blackout cases with different leak rates. In all three cases, the hot leg or surge line failed well before the lower head and thus the primary system depressurized to a point where DCH was no longer considered a threat. However, these calculations were continued to lower head failure in order to gain insights that were useful in establishing the initial and boundary conditions. The most useful insights are that the reactor coolant system pressure is low at vessel breach, metallic blockages in the core region do not melt and relocate into the lower plenum, and melting of upper plenum steel is correlated with hot leg failure. The output was used as input to to assess the containment conditions at vessel breach. The containment-side conditions predicted by are similar to those originally specified in NUREG/CR-6075.The methodology originally developed in NUREG/CR-6075 (M.M. Pilch, H. Yan, and T.G. Theofanous, Rep. NUREG/CR-6075, SAND93-1535, 1994a (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM)) was used to analyze the new splinter scenarios. Some modeling enhancements in response to working group discussions were implemented for these analyses. The entrainment of hydrogen pre-existing in the atmosphere into a burning jet was examined more carefully. In addition, the impact of DCH-induced deflagrations on DCH loads was quantified. A new computational tool—the two-cell equilibrium—Latin hypercube sampling (TCE-LHS) code—was developed for this effort to perform Monte Carlo sampling of the scenario distributions. The TCE-LHS code was benchmarked against the original Scenario I calculations in NUREG/CR-6075 performed using the code, which is based on the method of discrete probability distributions. The results were in excellent agreement.The analyses of the new scenarios showed no intersection of the load distributions and the containment fragility curves, and thus the containment failure probability was negligible for each scenario. These supplemental analyses complete closure of the DCH issue for Zion.     

Theoretical analyses of thermal post-buckling problems of liner shells

The buckling of liner shells is a major problem in reactor containment design. In this paper, the local liner shell is considered as the liner plate with special initial imperfection form, based on which, Koiter's asymptotic theory of initial post-buckling is used to obtain expressions for the post-buckling equilibrium paths and post-buckling minimum loads for perfect and imperfect liner shells. The post-buckling behaviors of three liner shell models (four point-supported liner shell, clamped liner shell, and five-point-supported liner shell) are investigated. The influence of the initial imperfection stud spacing and liner thickness on the post-buckling minimum loads is also given.     

The LOCA air-injection loads in BWR Mark II pressure suppression containment systems

Large-scale blowdown tests were conducted to investigate the thermal-hydrodynamic response of a boiling-water reactor (BWR) Mark II pressure suppression containment system to a postulated loss-of-coolant accident. This paper presents the test results on the early blowdown transients, where air in the drywell is injected into the pressure suppression pool and induces various hydrodynamic loads onto the containment pressure boundary and internal structures. The test data are compared to predictions by analytical models used for the licensing evaluation of the hydrodynamic loads to assess these models.     

Investigations of PCRV and nuclear reactor containments in China

This paper describes the state-of-the art of the research work on the mainland of China pertaining to the prestressed concrete reactor vessel and to nuclear reactor containment. The results of tests of scale model of a PCRV and its deep end slab are presented. The 3D linear and nonlinear stress analyses and ultimate load of these models are also described. A new type of containment, a steel-plate-concrete composite containment, is proposed and evaluated. At last, a survey of the Qin Shan Nuclear Power Plant is described.     

使用FCI-CMFD软件分析岭澳二期核电厂直接安全壳加热事故

采用分析熔融物与冷却剂反应(FCI)的三维多相流数值计算软件MC3D,建立岭澳二期核电厂模型,对严重事故下可能发生的直接安全壳加热(DCH)现象进行了模拟和分析。为准确预测事故现象,本文结合全厂断电事故后期参数与岭澳二期核电厂核岛几何模型,模拟事故过程。计算得出了事故下安全壳内气体温度场、熔滴体积份额场、速度场及压力随时间的变化。结果表明：直接安全壳加热事故会在短时间内引起安全壳内压力和局部温度的迅速上升。     

Experimental verification of accident loads for PWR containments

The principal loads which a nuclear power reactor containment is designed to withstand are produced by internal fluid caused static and/or dynamic pressures. They can be generated during failure events which release mass and energy into the containment atmosphere. An overview of the events which can generate substantial internal loads is provided. Representative experimental programs initiated for the investigation of the relevant physical phenomena are described. Illustrative examples of measured data are presented and discussed.     

Evaluation of intentional depressurization strategy in Chinese 600 MWe PWR NPP

Intentional depressurization is one of the effective strategies in preventing high-pressure melt ejection (HPME) and direct containment heating (DCH), which is most feasible for the operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) in China. In order to evaluate this strategy of a Chinese 600 MWe PWR NPP, the plant model is built using SCDAP/RELAP5 code. ATWS, SBO, SGTR and SLOCA are selected as the base cases for analysis of intentional depressurization. The results show that opening safety valves of pressurizer manually when the core exit temperature exceeds 922 K can reduce the RCS pressure effectively and prevent the occurrence of HPME and DCH. Several uncertainties such as the operability of safety valves, ex-vessel failure and the transitory rise of RCS pressure are also analyzed subsequently. The results show that the opening of the safety valves can be initiated normally and that opening three safety valves is a more favorable strategy in the event of possible failure of one or more of the safety valves; the probability of ex-vessel failure is reduced after intentional depressurization is implemented; the transitory rising of reactor coolant system (RCS) pressure when the molten core materials relocate to the lower head of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) will not influence the effect of depressurization.     

Hydrogen management and overpressure protection of the containment for future boiling water reactors

New design and evaluation method for hydrogen management of containment atmosphere have been developed for application in the future boiling water reactor (BWR). These are intended as a part of consideration of severe accidents in the course of design so as to assure a high level of confidence that a large release of radioactivity to the environment that may result in unacceptable social consequences can reasonably be avoided. Emphasis on hydrogen management and protection against overpressure failure is based on the insights from probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs) that late phase overpressure (and associated leakage) and molten corium concrete reaction (MCCI) need attention to ensure that containment remains intact, in case energetic challenges to the containment such as DCH (direct containment heating) or FCI (fuel coolant interactions) are practically eliminated by design or resolved from risk standpoint of view. The authors studied the use of palladium-coated tantalum for hydrogen removal from containment atmosphere in order to avoid pressurization of the containment with small free volume by non-condensable gas and steam. Its effectiveness for ABWR (advanced boiling water reactor) containment was evaluated using laboratory test data. Although further experimental studies are necessary to confirm its effectiveness in real accident conditions, the design is a promising option and one that could be backfitted upon necessity to existing plants for which pressure retaining capability cannot be altered. Also new evaluation method for flammability control under severe accident conditions was developed. This method employes a realistic assessment of the amount of oxygen and hydrogen gases generated by radiolytic decomposition of water under severe accident conditions and their subsequent transport from water to containment atmosphere.     

Development of Systematic Models for Aerosol Agglomeration and Spray Removal under Severe Accident Conditions

Radionuclide behavior during various severe accident conditions has been addressed as one of the important issues to discuss environmental safety in nuclear power plants. The present paper deals with the development of analytical models and their validations for the agglomeration of multiple-component aerosol and spray removal that controls source terms to the environment of both aerosols and gaseous radionuclides during recirculation mode operation in a containment system for a light water reactor. As for aerosol agglomeration, the single collision kernel model that can cover all types of two-body collision of aerosol was developed. In addition, the dynamic model that can treat aerosol and vapor transfer leading to the equilibrium condition under the containment spray operation was developed. The validations of the present models for multiple-component aerosol growth by agglomeration were performed by comparisons with Nuclear Safety Pilot Plant (NSPP) experiments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and AB experiments at Hanford Engineering National Laboratory (HEDL). In addition, the spray removal models were applied to the analysis of containment spray experiment (CSE) at HEDL. The results calculated by the models showed good agreements with experimental results.