A review on hydrogen generation, explosion, and mitigation during severe accidents in light water nuclear reactors

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2018-01, Vol.43 (4), p.1939-1965
• Main Authors: Gharari, R., Kazeminejad, H., Mataji Kojouri, N., Hedayat, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hydrogen generation; Hydrogen mitigation; Nuclear reactors; Severe accidents
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.11.174

Progress of severe accident (SA) can be divided into core degradation and post core meltdown. An important phenomena during severe accidents is the hydrogen generation from exothermal reaction between oxidation of core components, and molten core concrete interaction (MCCI). During the severe accidents, a large amounts of hydrogen is produced, deflagrated and consequently the containment integrity is violated. Therefore, the main objectives of this study is to highlight the source of hydrogen production during SA. First, a thorough literature review and main sources of hydrogen production, hydrogen reduction systems are introduced and discussed. Based on the available results, the amount of produced hydrogen in a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) and a boiling water reactor (BWR) are estimated to be 1000 and 4000 kg, respectively during in-vessel phase. The average rate of hydrogen production is about 1 kg/s during reflooding of a degraded core. Also, about 2000 kg hydrogen is produced during MCCI for a PWR. The lower and upper range of hydrogen required to initiate combustion is 4.1 and 74 vol percent, respectively. In this paper a review is provided of what has been done in the literature with regard to hydrogen generation in severe accidents of nuclear power plants. In addition, the review identifies the literature gaps and underlines the need of developing a systematic hydrogen management strategy. A hydrogen management strategy is proposed in order to maintain the containment integrity against the probable combustion or hydrogen explosion loads. •A review on hydrogen generation, explosion and mitigation in nuclear reactors is presented.•The lessons learned from well-known severe accidents in nuclear reactors are highlighted.•Severe accident codes are demonstrated via graphical abstracts.•Complete scenarios including in-vessel and ex-vessel phases are discussed.•Practical hydrogen management strategies are explained and proposed.