A feasibility assessment of the use of nanofluids to enhance the in-vessel retention capability in light-water reactors

Nanofluids, colloidal dispersions of nanoparticles, exhibit a substantially higher critical heat flux (CHF) compared to water. As such, they could be used to enhance the in-vessel retention (IVR) capability in the severe accident management strategy implemented by certain light-water reactors. It is envisioned that, at normal operating conditions, the nanofluid would be stored in dedicated storage tanks, which, upon actuation, would discharge into the reactor cavity through injection lines. The design of the injection system was explored with risk-informed analyses and computational fluid dynamics. It was determined that the system has a reasonably low failure probability, and that, once injected, the nanofluid would be delivered effectively to the reactor vessel surface within seconds. It was also shown analytically that the increase in decay power removal through the vessel using a nanofluid is about 40%, which could be exploited to provide a higher IVR safety margin or, for a given margin, to enable IVR at higher core power. Finally, the colloidal stability of a candidate alumina-based nanofluid in an IVR environment was experimentally investigated, and it was found that this nanofluid would be stable against dilution, exposure to gamma radiation, and mixing with boric acid and lithium hydroxide, but not tri-sodium phosphate.     

国产先进压水堆严重事故下氢气行为及控制系统分析

严重事故下的氢气控制是核电厂安全需要考虑的重要问题之一。采用一体化严重事故分析程序对国产先进压水堆核电厂进行系统建模,选取大破口触发的严重事故序列,对严重事故工况下的氢气产生情况及氢气控制系统的性能进行分析评价。结果表明:大破口事故序列下氢气的产生主要有两个阶段,分别是早期锆包壳与水反应产生氢气及堆芯熔融物迁移至下腔室产生氢气,其中燃料包壳的氧化是产氢的主要阶段,氢气释放时间较早,氢气产生速率较大。氢气控制系统的设计能够有效缓解可能的氢气风险,满足相关法规标准的安全要求,确保安全壳的完整性。     

先进压水堆大破口始发严重事故下安全壳内氢气风险分析

本文采用集总参数法,在先进非能动压水堆核电厂严重事故一体化分析模型基础上,考虑先进压水堆非能动安全特性以及严重事故下采取熔融物堆内滞留(IVR)措施等特性对氢气风险的影响,开展了典型严重事故下安全壳内氢气风险分析。分别选取了冷段双端剪切断裂大破口、冷段大破口叠加IRWST重力注水有效以及ADS-4误启动三个典型大破口失水事故序列,对事故进程中的氧化温度、产氢速率以及产氢质量等特性进行了研究。选取产氢量最大的冷段大破口叠加IRWST重力注水有效事故序列,分析了氢气点火器系统的消氢效果。结果表明,堆芯再淹没过程产生大量氢气,采用点火器可有效去除安全壳内的氢气,从而降低氢气燃爆风险。     

严重事故下核电站安全壳内氢气分布及控制分析

使用安全壳分析程序CONTAIN计算分析了百万千瓦级压水堆核电站严重事故下安全壳内的氢气浓度分布.分别对一回路冷段大破口失水(LB-LOCA)叠加应急堆芯冷却系统(ECCS)失效(不包括非能动的安注箱)事故和全厂断电(SBO)叠加汽轮机驱动的应急给水泵失效事故两个严重事故序列进行了计算.计算结果表明,不同严重事故下,安全壳各隔间对氢气控制系统的要求不同.氢气控制系统的设计必须满足不同事故下的法规要求,提高电站的安全性.