Thermal-hydraulic analysis on the effect of operator action in the loss of shutdown cooling system accident in a PWR

• Published in: Nuclear engineering and design 2007-10, Vol.237 (19), p.2054-2063
• Main Authors: Son, Young-Seok, Shin, Jee-Young
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Controled nuclear fusion plants; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Fission nuclear power plants; Fuels; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; Nuclear fuels
• ISSN: 0029-5493; 1872-759X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2007.03.026

It is necessary to develop PSA methodology and integrated accident management technology during low power/shutdown operations. To develop this technology, thermal-hydraulic analysis is necessarily required to access the trend of plant process parameters and operator's grace time after initiation of the accident. In this study, the thermal-hydraulic behavior in the loss of shutdown cooling system accident during low power/shutdown operations at the Korean standard nuclear power plant was analyzed using the best-estimate thermal-hydraulic analysis code, MARS2.1. The effects of operator's action and initiation of accident mitigation system, such as safety injection and gravity feed on mitigation of the accident during shutdown operations are also analyzed. When steam generators are unavailable or vent paths with large cross-sectional area are open in the accident, the core damage occurs earlier than the cases of steam generators available or vent paths with small cross-sectional area. If an operator takes an action to mitigate the accident, the accident can be mitigated considerably. To mitigate the accident, high-pressure safety injection is more effective in POS4B and gravity feed is more effective in POS5. The results of this study can contribute to the plant safety improvement because those can provide the time for an operator to take an action to mitigate the accident by providing quantitative time of core damage. The results of this study can also provide information in developing operating procedure and accident management technology.