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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

ORNL Neutron Cross Section Measurements of 90 Zr NCSP ND-1 Task [Slides]

Luiz Leal's idea to integrate the experimental uncertainties, covariances, and sensitivities in the ND workflow and to centralize the process at one location created a cohesive tool for data testing. It has been practiced for more than two decades by the NCS and ND groups at ORNL. The development and use of the ORNL codes TSUNAMI and TSURFER within SCALE made it possible. Today, it has been extended to SAMINT, which enables the coupling of differential and integral data evaluation in a continuous-energy framework.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Steam turbine: Alternative emergency drive for the secure removal of residual heat from the core of light water reactors in ultimate emergency situation

In 2011 the nuclear power generation has suffered an extreme probation. That could be the meaning of what happened in Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants. In those plants, an earthquake of 8.9 on the Richter scale was recorded. The quake intensity was above the trip point of shutting down the plants. Since heat still continued to be generated, the procedure to cooling the reactor was started. One hour after the earthquake, a tsunami rocked the Fukushima shore, degrading all cooling system of plants. Since the earthquake time, the plant had lost external electricity, impacting the pumping working, drive by electric engine. When operable, the BWR plants responded the management of steam. However, the lack of electricity had degraded the plant maneuvers. In this paper we have presented a scheme to use the steam as an alternative drive to maintain operable the cooling system of nuclear power plant. This scheme adds more reliability and robustness to the cooling systems. Additionally, we purposed a solution to the cooling in case of lacking water for the condenser system. In our approach, steam driven turbines substitute electric engines in the ultimate emergency cooling system. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Understanding the nature of nuclear power plant risk

This paper describes the evolution of understanding of severe accident consequences from the non-mechanistic assumptions of WASH-740 to WASH-1400, NUREG-1150, SOARCA and today in the interpretation of the consequences of the accident at Fukushima. As opposed to the general perception, the radiological human health consequences to members of the Japanese public from the Fukushima accident will be small despite meltdowns at three reactors and loss of containment integrity. In contrast, the radiation-related societal impacts present a substantial additional economic burden on top of the monumental task of economic recovery from the nonnuclear aspects of the earthquake and tsunami damage. The Fukushima accident provides additional evidence that we have mis-characterized the risk of nuclear power plant accidents to ourselves and to the public. The human health risks are extremely small even to people living next door to a nuclear power plant. The principal risk associated with a nuclear power plant accident involves societal impacts: relocation of people, loss of land use, loss of contaminated products, decontamination costs and the need for replacement power. Although two of the three probabilistic safety goals of the NRC address societal risk, the associated quantitative health objectives in reality only address individual human health risk. This paper describes the types of analysis that would address compliance with the societal goals. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

AP1000{sup R} severe accident features and post-Fukushima considerations

The AP1000{sup R} passive nuclear power plant is uniquely equipped to withstand an extended station blackout scenario such as the events following the earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima without compromising core and containment integrity. The AP1000 plant shuts down the reactor, cools the core, containment and spent fuel pool for more than 3 days using passive systems that do not require AC or DC power or operator actions. Following this passive coping period, minimal operator actions are needed to extend the operation of the passive features to 7 days using installed equipment. To provide defense-in-depth for design extension conditions, the AP1000 plant has engineered features that mitigate the effects of core damage. Engineered features retain damaged core debris within the reactor vessel as a key feature. Other aspects of the design protect containment integrity during severe accidents, including unique features of the AP1000 design relative to passive containment cooling with water and air, and hydrogen management. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2013

New Standards in Liquid Waste Treatment at Fukushima Dai-ichi - 13134

The earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 severely damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant leading to the most severe nuclear incident since Chernobyl. Ongoing operations to cool the damaged reactors at the site have led to the generation of highly radioactive coolant water. This is currently mainly treated to remove Cs-137 and Cs-134 and passed through a reverse osmosis (RO) unit to reduce the salinity before being cycled back to the reactors. Because only the Cs isotopes are removed, the RO reject water still contains many radioactive isotopes and this has led to the accumulation of over 200,000 cubic meters (52 million gallons) of extremely contaminated water which is currently stored on site in tanks. EnergySolutions, in partnership with Toshiba, were contracted to develop a system to reduce 62 isotopes in this waste down to allowable levels. This was a significant technical challenge given the high background salt content of the wastewater, the variation in aqueous chemistry of the radioactive isotopes and the presence of non-active competing ions (e.g. Ca and Mg) which inhibit the removal of isotopes such as Sr-89 and Sr-90. Extensive testing was performed to design a suitable system that could meet the required decontamination goals. These tests were performed over a 6 month period at facilities available in the nearby Fukushima Dai-ni laboratory using actual waste samples. This data was then utilized to design a Multi Radioactive Nuclides Removal System (MRRS) for Fukushima which is a modified version of EnergySolutions' proprietary Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS)'. The stored tank waste is fed into a preliminary precipitation system where iron flocculation is performed to remove a number of isotopes, including Sb-125, Ru-106, Mn-54 and Co-60. The supernatant is then fed into a second precipitation tank where the pH is adjusted and the bulk of the Mg, Ca and Sr precipitated out as carbonates and hydroxides. After passing through a cross-flow ultrafiltration membrane, the permeate then goes through a total of 14 fixed ion exchange and adsorbent columns followed by a disposable polishing column to polish the residual isotopes down to allowable levels. At the end of the system, the effluent is filtered for a final time to removal any particulates that may have been picked up from the media columns and then stored prior to analysis. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2013

Memory Saves Lives: Inter-generational Warnings Effectiveness - 13556

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami was a world-class natural disaster. It has been described as the most powerful earthquake ever in Japan, and as one of the most powerful earthquakes ever noted in the world. The toll in terms of human lives lost and property destruction was unimaginable. Even the word 'horrible' is inadequate to describe the suffering and misery that resulted. Nations with nuclear power programs are engaged in, or at least planning to become engaged in, arranging to eventually dispose of their higher-level radioactive waste materials in deep geologic repositories. Geologic repositories are passive safety systems, and if undisturbed isolate these dangerous materials form the biosphere for extremely long times. The key words, however, are 'if undisturbed'. To assure that future generations do not inadvertently drill into repositories, national programs, and the international community (the Records, Knowledge and Memory (RK and M) preservation project of the Nuclear Energy Agency, for example), are proposing to place markers and/or monuments on closed repository sites that say 'do not drill here, and this is why' in various sophisticated ways. Such markers or monuments are attempts at providing passive institutional controls. The effectiveness of messages from past generations to a present generation may give an indication of how effective such passive institutional controls may be. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2013

Results of detailed analyses performed on boring cores extracted from the concrete floors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant reactor buildings

Due to the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and the following severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, concrete surfaces within the reactor buildings were exposed to radioactive liquid and vapor phase contaminants. In order to clarify the situation of this contamination in the reactor buildings of Units 1, 2 and 3, selected samples were transported to the Fuels Monitoring Facility in the Oarai Engineering Center of JAEA where they were subjected to analyses to determine the surface radionuclide concentrations and to characterize the radionuclide distributions in the samples. In particular, penetration of radiocesium in the surface coatings layer and sub-surface concrete was evaluated. The analysis results indicate that the situation of contamination in the building of Unit 2 was different from others, and the protective surface coatings on the concrete floors provided significant protection against radionuclide penetration. The localized penetration of contamination in the concrete floors was found to be confined within a millimeter of the surface of the coating layer of some millimeters. (authors)

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2012

Multi-Phased, Post-Accident Support of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant - 12246

In the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent flooding of several of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactors, Japan and the Japanese utility TEPCO faced a crisis situation with incredible challenges: substantial amounts of radioactive mixed seawater and freshwater accumulated in the basements of four reactor and other buildings on the site. This water held varying levels of contamination due to the fact that it had been in contact with damaged fuel elements in the cores and with other contaminated components. The overall water inventory was estimated at around 110,000 tons of water with contamination levels up to the order of 1 Ci/l. Time was of the essence to avoid overflow of this accumulated water into the ocean. AREVA proposed, designed and implemented a water treatment solution using a proven chemical coprecipitation process with ppFeNi reagent, which is currently in use for effluent treatment on several nuclear sites including AREVA sites. In addition to the extremely short schedule the other challenge was to adapt the chemical treatment process to the expected composition of the Fukushima water and, in particular, to evaluate the impact of salinity on process performance. It was also necessary to define operating conditions for the VEOLIA equipment that had been selected for implementation of the process in the future facility. The operation phase began on June 17, and by the end of July more than 30,000 tons of highly radioactive saltwater had been decontaminated - the Decontamination Factor (DF) for Cesium was ∼10{sup 4}. It allowed recycling the contaminated water to cool the reactors while protecting workers and the environment. This paper focuses on the Actiflo{sup TM}-Rad water treatment unit project that was part of the TEPCO general water treatment scheme. It presents a detailed look at the principles of the Actiflo{sup TM}-Rad, related on-the-fly R and D, an explanation of system implementation challenges, and a brief summary of operation results to date. AREVA's response to the Fukushima Dai-Ichi crisis was multi-phased: emergency aid and relief supply was sent within days after the accident; AREVA-Veolia engineering teams designed and implemented a water treatment solution in record time, only 3 months; and AREVA continues to support TEPCO and propose solutions for waste management, soil remediation and decontamination of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi site. Despite the huge challenges, the Actiflo{sup TM}-Rad project has been a success: the water treatment unit started on time and performed as expected. The performance is the result of many key elements: AREVA expertise in radioactive effluents decontamination, Veolia know-how in water treatment equipments in crisis environment, and of course AREVA and Veolia teams' creativity. The project success is also due to AREVA and Veolia teams' reactivity and high level of commitment with engineering teams working 24/7 in Japan, France and Germany. AREVA and Veolia deep knowledge of the Japanese industry ensured that the multi-cultural exchanges were not an issue. Finally the excellent overall project management and execution by TEPCO and other Japanese stakeholders was very efficient. The emergency water treatment was a key step of the roadmap towards restoration from the accident at Fukushima Dai-Ichi that TEPCO designed and keeps executing with success. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Radiation Measurement Systems and Experiences in Japan after the Fukushima Accident

In the approximately 4 years since the March 2011 earthquake and subsequent Tsunami damaged the three Dai-Ichi nuclear power plants, the AREVA and Canberra team have deployed a variety of different radiation measurement machines in Japan. These measurement projects or instruments include: - Dose-rate mapping of the close-in areas on the damaged reactor site using the stored output of dose rate meters carried by workers planning for the installing of a water processing unit; - Spectroscopic on-line measurements of the first water processing unit on the site, where these nuclide-specific measurements at multiple points allowed remote users to determine the optimum processing parameters - General purpose food measurement units, both high precision HPGe systems and low cost NaI systems, which were used throughout the country for food quality measurements; - In-vivo measurement systems, both fixed and mobile whole body counting units, that were used on at least 500,000 people, demonstrating to them that internal doses were very low; - In-vivo measurements with special high-sensitivity whole body counters on babies and children, demonstrating to the parents of these children that internal doses are very low; - Automatic systems for high throughput assay of bags of rice that are part of the consumer confidence plan to prove to customers that Fukushima Prefecture rice is safe; - High sensitivity automatic system to assay boxes of special semi-dry persimmons and to report the activity of each individual item within the box meets the regulatory limit; - System to assay soil on a conveyor belt and sort the output according to level of radioactivity, which would then reduce the volume of material that must be treated as radioactive; - System to assay a truck loaded with 1 cubic meter sacks of soil and vegetation, and report the results of each individual sack. - On-line water measurement system for SrY90 at levels that are suitable for release to the environment; - Mobile system to prove that rolls of grass harvested for animal feed meet the regulatory requirements. This document briefly describes the purpose of each measurement project, describes the instruments and assay method that used, and discusses some of the operational experiences from each of these projects. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Robotics Technologies for Decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi - 17077

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) was the site of a severe nuclear accident after the 2011 Off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Extensive structural damage occurred in the NPS facilities, including such environments as the reactor buildings and the primary containment vessels (PCVs). These are high radiation areas, having underwater areas, narrow spaces and so on. It is necessary to determine the extent of contamination and the location of debris to plan decommissioning operations. Survey targets in the past few years have been focused on inspections of the basement of the reactor buildings and the inside of the PCVs. Human operators cannot access these environments and work in them directly. Therefore, remotely operated robots and measurement technologies are needed to carry out various operations. For underwater surveys, we have developed a submersible crawling swimming robot that can avoid obstacles and inspect wide areas as it moves around. A shape-changing robot has been developed for passing through narrow spaces and crawling on rough floors. An ultrasonic imaging method combined with convex scanning and a divergent beam has been proposed to visualize environments in turbid water. In this paper, we describe details of the two survey robots and the underwater imaging method. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Radiological Surveys of 1600 km of In-Use Roads in Ichinoseki City, Japan Following the Fukushima Dai-ichi Reactor Accident - 17467

In March 2011, the Japanese Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor was damaged by a 9.0 magnitude earth quake and subsequent 15-meter tsunami. As a result of the nuclear reactor accident, radioactive material from the nuclear reactor and fuel storage pool (primarily radioactive iodine and cesium) was released to the atmosphere and carried by the wind as a plume that spread radioactive contamination across roughly 13,000 square kilometers of the countryside. Amec Foster Wheeler's Radiological Services and Engineering Group mobilized a team of Engineers and Operators to Japan to implement a radiological survey (scan) of roads located in Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture, north of Fukushima, using three of Amec Foster Wheeler's Orion ScanPlotSM advanced radiological scanning systems. The survey was performed in less than two months while the roads were kept open for public use, and was conducted with motorized scooters and battery-assisted bicycles. The survey was performed with operational support from Obayashi, Inc., a large Japanese construction company headquartered in Tokyo. Over a seven-week period, the ScanPlotSM systems covered approximately 1,600 kilometers of roads within Ichinoseki City and surrounding areas of Iwate Prefecture. ScanPlotSM systems recorded GPS locations and radiation dose rate levels from Cs-137 on the road's surface at one-second increments during the survey and displayed the dose rate reading in micro-Sieverts per hour (μSv/h) on the back of the bicycle or motor scooter in real-time on a results monitor so that members of the public would be able to see real-time data. Radiological survey data was provided to Obayashi daily for development of survey result maps for the city. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Implementation of Arizona's nuclear future 153192.doc10 - 15319

The Arizona Energy Education Fund (AEEF), now a 501(c) (3) non-profit entity, is an assembly of stakeholders from the private sector, government, education and energy industries dedicated to supporting K-12 (kindergarten through 12. grade), community colleges and universities through an enhanced program of smart nuclear generator expansion, isotope production, testing of breeder reactor power plants, recycling spent nuclear fuel in power generation facilities, and nuclear fuel cycle support. AEEF priorities are to collaborate with stakeholders in Arizona to develop safe plans that will make Arizona the most nuclear friendly state benefiting all stakeholders. Long-term plans include promoting: - education of K-12 students as well as the general Arizona population so that they fully understand the benefits and safe use of nuclear power; - reliable supply of medical and industrial radioisotopes; - Arizona as host of new reactor concepts which are being developed and demonstrated; - development of nuclear engineering programs in Arizona universities to drive the development of the next generation of nuclear power plants; and - supply of nuclear-generated electricity to California and Sonora, Mexico to power desalinisation plants in exchange for Colorado River water currently allocated to California and Sonora. The development described will generate significant long-term employment for Arizona while delivering a critical service to the nation. Arizona's location advantages include the lack of significant seismic activity, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods or frigid weather. Interstate highways and railroads are well developed and provide good, all-weather access to many potential development sites. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Frozen Soil Barrier to Control Groundwater Inflow into Damaged Reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station - 16613

Reactor buildings and support facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (F1 Site) were damaged by a March 2011 tsunami. In response, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is implementing a number of countermeasures to limit the releases and impacts of contaminated water to the surrounding environment. The diverse countermeasures work together in an integrated manner to provide different types, and several levels, of environmental protection. In general, the strategy represents an example of a 'defense in depth' concept that is used for nuclear facilities around the world. One of the key countermeasures is a frozen soil barrier encircling the damaged reactor facilities. The frozen barrier is intended to limit the flow of water into the area, reduce the amount of water entering damaged reactors, and reduce the resulting volume of contaminated water that requires treatment and storage. The frozen soil barrier was designed and installed by a team from TEPCO and Kajima Corporation. A group of scientists and engineers from US Department of Energy National Laboratories provided independent evaluation of the frozen barrier design and operational plans along with technical recommendations to the TEPCO team. The frozen soil barrier design extends to about 30 m depth; the bottom of the barrier is in a low permeability interval, and the total barrier length around the reactors is just over 1.5 km. The barrier required 1927 total boreholes: 1568 for freeze pipes plus 359 for temperature monitoring arrays. Drilling of all of the boreholes was completed November 9, 2015. Construction of the refrigeration plant is complete and all of the above ground piping/manifolds are in the final stages of construction. The DOE laboratory independent assessment of the frozen soil barrier concluded that the technical characteristics of a frozen barrier are relatively well suited to Fukushima-specific hydrogeologic conditions and the need for reducing the inflow of water into damaged reactors at the F1 Site. The scale of the Fukushima barrier is bounded by industry experience and the equipment and infrastructure proposed for the ground freezing is well understood. The on-site pilot test at Fukushima indicated predictable ground freezing and supported the full scale design parameters. These factors increase the confidence in the frozen soil barrier project underway at Fukushima. TEPCO is currently working with the Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), providing operational plans/strategies for the frozen soil barrier and modeling results of the projected performance. Full scale frozen soil barrier operations are to begin after authorization from NRA. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Coupling SCALE with DAKOTA for Axial Burnup Profiles Assessment in Burnup Credit

This paper presents a computational study that demonstrates the application of the SCALE code system in conjunction with the Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Terascale Applications (DAKOTA) for the analysis of key factors influencing the evaluation of burnup credit (BUC) in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The primary objective of this analysis is to characterize the model by utilizing parameterization, uncertainty quantification, and optimization studies. Using this approach, we can comprehensively assess the system and conduct informed predictive studies. This study highlights the effectiveness of the SCALE code system integrated within the DAKOTA framework in terms of efficiency and capability. With the coupling of the burnup code ORIGAMI with the CSAS or TSUNAMI-3D sequence embedded in a DAKOTA analysis, we can characterize the factors that influence the k eff of PWR 17x17 spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the GBC-32 computational benchmark cask for the assessment of BUC in criticality safety analysis. The coupling methodology used in this study is not exclusive to BUC analysis. However, the choice to apply this methodology to the BUC problem is particularly significant because of the diverse range of aspects it encompasses in nuclear criticality safety analyses. This problem presents a unique opportunity to explore and address multiple facets of such analyses related to BUC and illustrates the capability of the SCALE code system with DAKOTA. This analysis makes use of historical reference data for the axial burnup profile, where the entire space within the bounds is considered. Both SCALE and DAKOTA are currently integrated in the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling Simulation (NEAMS) Workbench code system, which has a user-friendly graphical interface that simplifies the setup of simulations and configuration of input parameters as well as the visualization of simulation results.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Investigating Similarity Differences for Light-Water-Moderated and Polyethylene-Moderated Systems

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has performed validation studies in support of Pacific Northwest Laboratory’s analysis of the Sum-of-Fractions method. Work in a companion paper examines the validation methods and results for various mixtures of fissile isotopes in various concentrations moderated and reflected by light-water and polyethylene. Those results indicate a greater coverage of critical experiments for validating light water moderated and reflected systems vs. those with polyethylene. The work presented here details the analysis of differences between light-water and polyethylene systems developed from the different concentration mixtures utilized in the Sum-of-Fractions validation study. Differences in actinide contributions are detailed, explaining the differences in ck for the various systems. The available tools and analysis techniques in TSUNAMI are described to illustrate how these types of differences can be understood by practitioners.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Large earthquake processes in the northern Vanuatu subduction zone

Abstract The northern Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides) subduction zone (11°S to 14°S) has experienced large shallow thrust earthquakes with M w > 7 in 1966 ( M S 7.9, 7.3), 1980 ( M w 7.5, 7.7), 1997 ( M w 7.7), 2009 ( M w 7.7, 7.8, 7.4), and 2013 ( M w 8.0). We analyze seismic data from the latter four earthquake sequences to quantify the rupture processes of these large earthquakes. The 7 October 2009 earthquakes occurred in close spatial proximity over about 1 h in the same region as the July 1980 doublet. Both sequences activated widespread seismicity along the northern Vanuatu subduction zone. The focal mechanisms indicate interplate thrusting, but there are differences in waveforms that establish that the events are not exact repeats. With an epicenter near the 1980 and 2009 events, the 1997 earthquake appears to have been a shallow intraslab rupture below the megathrust, with strong southward directivity favoring a steeply dipping plane. Some triggered interplate thrusting events occurred as part of this sequence. The 1966 doublet ruptured north of the 1980 and 2009 events and also produced widespread aftershock activity. The 2013 earthquake rupture propagated southward from the northern corner of the trench with shallow slip that generated a substantial tsunami. The repeated occurrence of large earthquake doublets along the northern Vanuatu subduction zone is remarkable considering the doublets likely involved overlapping, yet different combinations of asperities. The frequent occurrence of large doublet events and rapid aftershock expansion in this region indicate the presence of small, irregularly spaced asperities along the plate interface.

Cleveland, K. Michael↗
DOE OSTI2017

A Simulation-Based Dynamic Approach for External Flooding Analysis in Nuclear Power Plants

All nuclear power plants must consider and evaluate external flooding risks such as local intense precipitation, dam failure, and coastal flooding due to storm surge or tsunami. While these events could challenge off-site power and other plant structure integrity, threaten plant safety systems and components, and limit plant access, they are more than often qualitatively regarded as risk insignificant and screened out from detailed evaluation and quantification. The recent lessons learned from the Fukushima seismic/tsunami initiated nuclear accident (2011), the Fort Calhoun (2011), Vermont Yankee (2013), Arkansas Nuclear One (2013), and St. Luice (2014) flooding events showed otherwise. However, developing an external flood model with traditional event tree/fault tree approach as in a static probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model could be difficult to accurately represent plant system and component behavior and reliability of manual actions during an ever-progressing flood event. The plant response to external flood may be highly spatial- and time- dependent and subject to the hydrological and hydraulic characteristics of the flood event. Such unique challenges prompt the investigation of using the simulation-based dynamic analysis approaches for external flood risk assessment. Simulation methods can better illustrate the performance of structures, systems, and components during an external flooding event. A general framework to perform a simulation-based dynamic flooding analysis is presented in this paper with the sub-tasks of flood hazard analysis, flood fragility analysis, plant response modeling, safety margin analysis or PRA quantification. A new type of State PRA modeling technique is introduced to incorporate time-related interactions such as those from 3D simulations into a traditional PRA model.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Nuclear data uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of the VHTRC benchmark using SCALE

The Very High Temperature Critical Assembly (VHTRC) experiment represents one of the few data sets available for the validation of HTGR lattice physics. Within the framework of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project on HTGR Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of this graphite-moderated facility are performed as the validation reference to the prismatic MHTGR-350 fuel block calculations. Nominal multi-group and continuous-energy criticality calculations with the KENO-VI Monte Carlo code of the SCALE code package are compared with the continuous-energy Monte Carlo Code Serpent. Good agreement with a maximum difference of 250 pcm is obtained. The experimental data set, however, differs by several hundred pcm with the results of both codes when using the ENDF-VII.0 library. When using ENDF/B-VII.1 data, this difference is reduced to a few hundred pcm and the calculations lie within the experimental error bars. Uncertainties of the VHTRC multiplication factors due to uncertainties in nuclear data are determined with SAMPLER/KENO-VI of SCALE 6.2 and with continuous-energy TSUNAMI of SCALE 6.2. For all experimental configurations, the obtained uncertainty is found to be 0.58% when using ENDF/B-VII.0 data. The top contributor to this uncertainty is the average number of neutrons per fission event of U-235. With ENDF/B-VII.1 data, uncertainties of about 0.66% are obtained in particular due to an increased uncertainty of U-235 nu-bar in the latest ENDF release. In conclusion, when considering these nuclear data uncertainties, the obtained 1s uncertainty intervals are overlapping with the experimental error bars.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗