Conceptual Strategy for Mitigating the Risk of Hydrogen as an Internal Hazard in Case of Severe Accidents at Nuclear Power Plant Considering Existing Risks and Uncertainties Associated with the Use of Traditional Strategies

Hydrogen challenge mitigation stands as one of the main objectives in the management of severe accidents at Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). Key strategies for hydrogen control include atmospheric inertization and hydrogen removal with Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners (PARs) being a commonly accepted approach. However, an examination of PAR operation specificity reveals potential inefficiencies and reliability issues in certain severe accident scenarios. Moreover, during the in-vessel stage of severe accident development, in some severe accident scenarios PARs can unexpectedly become a source of hydrogen detonation. The effectiveness of hydrogen removal systems depends on various factors, including the chosen strategies, severe accident scenarios, reactor building design, and other influencing factors. Consequently, a comprehensive hydrogen mitigation strategy must effectively incorporate a combination of strategies rather than be based on one strategy, taking into consideration the probabilistic risks and uncertainties associated with the implementation of PARs or other traditional methods. In response to these considerations, within the framework of this research it has been suggested a conceptual strategy to mitigate the hydrogen challenge during the in-vessel stage of severe accident development.

Increasing the Efficiency and Level of Environmental Safety of Pro-Environmental City Heat Supply Technologies by Low Power Nuclear Plants

In connection with the current prospect of decarbonization of coal energy through the use of small nuclear power plants (SNPPs) at existing TPPs as heat sources for heat supply to municipal heating networks, there is a technological need to improve heat supply schemes to increase their environmental friendliness and efficiency. The paper proves the feasibility of using the heat-feeding mode of ASHPs for urban heat supply by heating the network water with steam taken from the turbine. The ratio of electric and thermal power of a “nuclear” combined heat and power plant is given. The advantage of using a heat pump, which provides twice as much electrical power with the same heat output, is established. Taking into account that heat in these modes is supplied with different potential, the energy efficiency was used to compare these options. To increase the heat supply capacity, a scheme with the use of a high-pressure heater in the backpressure mode and with the heating of network water with hot steam was proposed. Heat supply from ASHPs is efficient and environmentally friendly even in the case of significant remoteness of heat consumers.

PSA study of the effect of extreme snowfall on a floating nuclear power plant:case study in the Bohai Sea

This study presents a probabilistic safety analysis(PSA)method for the external event of extreme snowfall on a floating nuclear power plant(FNPP)deployed in the Bohai Sea.We utilized the Weibull and Gumbel extreme value distributions to fit the collected meteorological data and obtained a hazard curve for the event of an extreme snowfall where the FNPP is located,providing a basis for the frequency of extreme snowfall-initiating events.Our analysis indicates that extreme snowfall primarily affects the ventilation openings of the equipment,leading to the failure of devices such as the diesel generators.Additionally,extreme snowfall can result in a loss of off-site power(LOOP).Therefore,the developed extreme snowfall PSA model is mainly based on the LOOP event tree,considering responses such as snowfall removal by personnel.Our calculations indicate a core damage frequency(CDF)of 1.13×10^(-10) owing to extreme snowfall,which is relatively low.The results of the cut-set analysis indicate that valve failures in the core makeup tank(CMT),passive residual heat removal system(PRS),and in-containment refueling water storage tank(IRWST)significantly contribute to the CDF.

Development and Research of Non⁃Stirring Conveying Device for Waste Resin in Nuclear Power Plant

Blockage in the storage and transportation of waste resin is a difficult problem in the radioactive waste treatment process of nuclear power plants.In this study,in order to solve the problems of unstable resin transport concentration and easy blockage of conveying equipment and pipelines in nuclear power plants in China,a set of non⁃stirring conveying devices is developed,and theoretical calculations,simulation analysis and experimental verification are carried out.By transporting resin using the no stirring conveying device developed in this paper,it is not only to eliminate the risk of blockage and ensure the safety of transportation,but also to adjust the concentration of conveying resin to change the transport efficiency according to the operating conditions.The effective bearing rate of waste resin storage tank can be improved,so that the comprehensive performance of waste resin storage and transportation in nuclear power plants can be greatly improved.

SRDAAR－QNPP：a computer code system for the real－time dose assessment of an accident release for Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant

The paper presents a computer code system 'SRDAAR- QNPP' for the real-time dose as-sessment of an accident release for Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant. It includes three parts:thereal-time data acquisition system, assessment computer. and the assessment operating code system. InSRDAAR-QNPP, the wind field of the surface and the lower levels are determined hourly by using amass consistent three-dimension diasnosis model with the topographic following coordinate system.A Lagrangin Puff model under changing meteorological condition is adopted for atmosphericdispersion, the correction for dry and wet depositions. physical decay and partial plume penetrationof the top inversion and the deviation of plume axis caused by complex terrain have been taken in-to account. The calculation domain areas include three square grid areas with the sideline 10 km, 40krn and 160 km and a grid interval 0.5 km, 2.0 km, 8.0 km respectively. Three exposure pathwaysare taken into account:the external exposure from immersion cloud and passing puff, the internalexposure from inhalation and the external exposure from contaminated ground. This system is ableto provide the results of concentration and dose distributions within 10 minutes after the data havebeen inputed.

Investigation on Flow Accelerated Corrosion Mitigation for Secondary Circuit Piping of the Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant

Flow accelerated corrosion（FAC） is the main failure cause of the secondary circuit carbon steel piping in nuclear power plants.The piping failures caused by FAC have resulted in numerous unplanned outages and tragic fatalities.The existing researches focus on the main factors contributing to FAC,which include metallurgical factors,environmental factors and hydrodynamic factors. Some effective FAC management methods and programs with long term monitoring and inspection data analysis are recommended.But a comprehensive FAC management system should be developed in order to mitigate and manage FAC systematically.In this paper,the FAC influencing factors are analyzed in combination with the operating conditions of the secondary circuit piping in the Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant（TQNPP）,China（Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Company Limited,China）.A comprehensive FAC mitigation and management system is developed for TQNPP secondary circuit piping.The system is composed of five processes,viz.materials substitution,water chemical optimization,long-term monitor strategy for the susceptible piping,integrity evaluation of the local thinning defects,and repair or replacement.With the implementation of the five processes,the material of FAC sensitive pipe fittings are modified from carbon steel to stainless steel,N_2H_4 and NH_3 are finally selected as the water chemical regulator of secondary circuit,the secondary circuit pips are classified according to FAC susceptibility in order to conduct long term monitoring strategy,and an integrity evaluation flow for local thinning caused by FAC in carbon steel piping is developed.If the component with local thinning defects is not fit-for-service,corresponding repair or replacement should be conducted.The comprehensive FAC mitigation and management system with five interrelated processes would be a cost-effective method of increasing personnel safety,plant safety and availability.

Study on Lightning Protection Design of DCS in a Nuclear Power Plant

DCS （distributed control system） plays a decisive role in the overall operation of a nuclear power plant. If DCS fails, it will seriously affect the normal production of nuclear power plant, causing great losses. So it is very important to take perfect lightning protection measures on DCS of the nuclear power plant. In this paper, according to the actual situation of DCS in a nuclear power plant, by controlling lightning point, securely booting lightning into the ground network, improving low-resistance ground network, eliminating ground loops, determining the safety space, surge protection of power and signal, a set of complete lightning protection design scheme was systematically put forward. Some specific lightning protection measures were highlighted, such as the DCS grounding, equipotential bonds and shields, and some specific considerations were put forward. All of these could offer reference in the practical application.

Development and Application of Maintenance Template in Pressurized Water Reactor Nuclear Power Plant

Good practices of maintenance optimization in nuclear power field need to be effectively consolidated and inherited,and maintenance optimization can provide technology support to create a long-term reliable and economic operation for nuclear power plants( NPPs) especially for a large number of nuclear powers under construction. Based on the development and application of maintenance template in developed countries,and combining with reliability-centered maintenance( RCM) analysis results and maintenance experience data over the past ten years in domestic NPPs, the development process of maintenance template was presented for Chinese pressurized water reactor( PWR) NPP,and the application of maintenance template to maintenance program development and maintenance optimization combined with cases were demonstrated. A shortcut was provided for improving the efficiency of maintenance optimization in domestic PWR NPP,and help to realize a safe,reliable,and economic operation for domestic NPPs.

Development of SA-533 Type B CL. 1+SA-240 Type 304L roll-bonded clad steel plate for safety injection tank of CAP1400 nuclear power plant

Aiming to meet the demand of the country＇ s nuclear demonstration project on the CAP1400 nuclear power plant, Baosteel uses the roll-bonding technology and develops the SA-533 Type B CL. 1 ＋ SA-240 Type 304L high-strength and high-toughness clad steel plate with a shear strength of over 310 MPa for the nuclear power plant＇ s safety injection tank. The properties of the quenched and tempered and the simulated post-weld heat treatment states are systematically studied herein through a comprehensive inspection and evaluation of the composition,microstructure,and properties of the clad steel plate. The results show that the bonding interface has high shear strength and that the base metal has high strength and good toughness at low temperatures. Hence, the performance fully meets the technical requirements of the CAP1400 nuclear power plant＇ s safety injection tank in the country＇ s nuclear demonstration project. The roll-bonded clad steel plate can be used to manufacture the safety injection tank of the CAP1400 nuclear power plant.

Probabilistic Approach of Coastal Defense Against Typhoon Attacks for Nuclear Power Plant

With the global warming and sea level rising, it is widely recognized that there is an increasing tendency of typhoon occurrence frequency and intensity. The defenses code against typhoon attacks for nuclear power plant should be calibrated because of the increasing threat of typhoon disaster and severe consequences. This paper discusses the probabilistic approach of definitions about ＂probable maximum typhoon＂ and ＂probable maximum storm surge＂ in nuclear safety regulations of China and has made some design code calibrations by use of a newly proposed Double Layer Nested Mtdti-objective Probability Model （DLNMPM）.

Comparison of Risk Assessment for a Nuclear Power Plant Construction Project Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

Recently, plant construction throughout the world, including nuclear power plant construction, has grown significantly. The scale of Korea’s nuclear power plant construction in particular, has increased gradually since it won a contract for a nuclear power plant construction project in the United Arab Emirates in 2009. However, time and monetary resources have been lost in some nuclear power plant construction sites due to lack of risk management ability. The need to prevent losses at nuclear power plant construction sites has become more urgent because it demands professional skills and large-scale resources. Therefore, in this study, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) were applied in order to make comparisons between decision-making methods, to assess the potential risks at nuclear power plant construction sites. To suggest the appropriate choice between two decision-making methods, a survey was carried out. From the results, the importance and the priority of 24 risk factors, classified by process, cost, safety, and quality, were analyzed. The FAHP was identified as a suitable method for risk assessment of nuclear power plant construction, compared with risk assessment using the AHP. These risk factors will be able to serve as baseline data for risk management in nuclear power plant construction projects.

Decomposition of oil cleaning agents from nuclear power plants by supercritical water oxidation

Oil cleaning agents generated from nuclear power plants(NPPs)are radioactive organic liquid wastes.To date,because there are no satisfactory industrial treatment measures,these wastes can only be stored for a long time.In this work,the optimization for the supercritical water oxidation(SCWO)of the spent organic solvent was investigated.The main process parameters of DURSET(oil cleaning agent)SCWO,such as temperature,reaction time,and excess oxygen coefficient,were optimized using response surface methodology,and a quadratic polynomial model was obtained.The determination coefficient(R^(2))of the model is 0.9812,indicating that the model is reliable.The optimized process conditions were at 515 C,66 s,and an excess oxygen coefficient of 211%.Under these conditions,the chemical oxygen demand removal of organic matter could reach 99.5%.The temperature was found to be the main factor affecting the SCWO process.Ketones and benzene-based compounds may be the main intermediates in DURSET SCWO.This work provides basic data for the industrialization of the degradation of spent organic solvents from NPP using SCWO technology.

Transient Analysis of Steam Generator in PWR Nuclear Power Plant

The water level control system of steam generator in a pressurized water reactor of nuchear power plant plays an important role which effects the water level control of the steam generator are due the reverse dynamics behavior,so the transient analysis of the steam generator should firstly solve their mathematical models.For determination of dynamic behavior and design and testing of the control system, a nonlinear math model is developed using one dimensional conservation equations of mass,momentum and energy of primary and secondary sides of the steam generator. The nonlinear model is verified with standard power plant data available in the references, then the steady states and transient calculations are performed for full power to 5% power reactor operation of the steam generator of Chinese Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant.

Nuclear power plant fault diagnosis based on genetic-RBF neural network

It is necessary to develop an automatic fault diagnosis system to avoid a possible nuclear disaster caused by an inaccurate fault diagnosis in the nuclear power plant by the operator. Because Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) has the characteristics of optimal approximation and global approximation. The mixed coding of binary system and decimal system is introduced to the structure and parameters of RBFNN, which is trained in course of the genetic optimization. Finally, a fault diagnosis system according to the frequent faults in condensation and feed water system of nuclear power plant is set up. As a result, Genetic-RBF Neural Network (GRBFNN) makes the neural network smaller in size and higher in generalization ability. The diagnosis speed and accuracy are also improved.

Aseismic safety analysis of a prestressed concrete containment vessel for CPR1000 nuclear power plant

Abstract： The containment vessel of a nuclear power plant is the last barrier to prevent nuclear reactor radiation. Aseismic safety analysis is the key to appropriate containment vessel design. A prestressed concrete containment vessel （PCCV） model with a semi-infinite elastic foundation and practical arrangement of tendons has been established to analyze the aseismic ability of the CPR1000 PCCV structure under seismic loads and internal pressure. A method to model the prestressing tendon and its interaction with concrete was proposed and the axial force of the prestressing tendons showed that the simulation was reasonable and accurate. The numerical results show that for the concrete structure, the location of the cylinder wall bottom around the equipment hatch and near the ring beam are critical locations with large principal stress. The concrete cracks occurred at the bottom of the PCCV cylinder wall under the peak earthquake motion of 0.50 g, however the PCCV was still basically in an elastic state. Furthermore, the concrete cracks occurred around the equipment hatch under the design internal pressure of 0.4MPa, but the steel liner was still in the elastic stage and its leak-proof function soundness was verified. The results provide the basis for analysis and design of containment vessels.

The Role of Countermeasures in Mitigating the Radiological Consequences of Nuclear Power Plant Accidents

The countermeasures are the actions that should be taken, after the occurrence of a nuclear accident to protect the public against the associated risks. These actions may be represented by sheltering, evacuation, distribution of stable iodine tablets and/or relocation. This study represents a comprehensive probabilistic study to investigate the role of the adoption of the countermeasures in case of a hypothetical accident of type LOCA for nuclear power plant of PWR （1000 Mw）. The effective doses in different organs, short and long health effects, and the associated risks are calculated with and without countermeasures. In addition, the overall costs of the accident and the costs of countermeasures are estimated which represent our first trials to know how much the proposed accident cost. The results showed that, the area around the site requires early and late countermeasures action after the accident especially in the downwind sectors. For late countermeasures, the duration time of relocation ranged from about two to 10 years. The adoption of the countermeasures increases the costs of emergency plan by 40% but reduces the risk associated the accident.

Twin model-based fault detection and tolerance approach for in-core self-powered neutron detectors

The in-core self-powered neutron detector(SPND)acts as a key measuring device for the monitoring of parameters and evaluation of the operating conditions of nuclear reactors.Prompt detection and tolerance of faulty SPNDs are indispensable for reliable reactor management.To completely extract the correlated state information of SPNDs,we constructed a twin model based on a generalized regression neural network(GRNN)that represents the common relationships among overall signals.Faulty SPNDs were determined because of the functional concordance of the twin model and real monitoring sys-tems,which calculated the error probability distribution between the model outputs and real values.Fault detection follows a tolerance phase to reinforce the stability of the twin model in the case of massive failures.A weighted K-nearest neighbor model was employed to reasonably reconstruct the values of the faulty signals and guarantee data purity.The experimental evaluation of the proposed method showed promising results,with excellent output consistency and high detection accuracy for both single-and multiple-point faulty SPNDs.For unexpected excessive failures,the proposed tolerance approach can efficiently repair fault behaviors and enhance the prediction performance of the twin model.

Ageing Assessment, Condition Inspection and Lifetime Evaluation for Safety Related Fuse in Nuclear Power Plant

This paper presents the ageing mechanism of fuse in nuclear power plant in detail. Metal Electromigration is identified as the dominant ageing mechanism. On this basis, the dominant status indicators, temperature and resistance of fuse were ensured, and current-temperature curve was proposed. The infrared thermal imaging technology was used to inspect the ageing condition and prove the current-temperature curve. Finally, the accelerated ageing testing was conducted abiding by the dominant ageing mechanism, and the lifetime was evaluated.

Novel Technological Developments with Impacts on Perspectives for Mobile Nuclear Power Plants

New research developments suggest that nuclear reactors using fusion may enter the market sooner than imagined even for mobile applications, like merchant ship propulsion and remote power generation. This article aims at pointing such developments and how they could affect nuclear fusion. The method is enumerating the main nuclear reactors concepts, identifying new technological or theoretical developments useful to nuclear field, and analysing how new recombination could affect feasibility of nuclear fusion. New technologies or experimental results do not always work the way people imagine, being better or worse for intended effects or even bringing completely unforeseen effects. Results point the following designs could be successful, in descending order of potential: aneutronic nuclear reactions using lattice confinement, aneutronic nuclear reactions using inertial along magnetic confinement, hybrid fission-lattice confinement fusion, and fission reactions.

Effects of Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant on the Zooplankton Community in Summer of 2017

To evaluate the effects of the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant on the zooplankton community in the surrounding seawater during summer, multiple environmental factors and zooplankton distribution along the east coast of Liaodong Bay were investigated in the summer of 2017. In particular, the influences of seawater temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll a(Chl a) on the zooplankton community were analyzed. Zooplankton abundances and Chl a concentrations along the east coast of Liaodong Bay showed an initial increase followed by a decrease from July to September. During the three months, the zooplankton abundance was the highest(8116.70 ind m^(-3)) in August. The Shannon-Wiener index showed a downtrend from July to September, with the average value falling from 1.65 in July to 1.50 in September. Calanus sinicus, Paracalanus parvus, copepodid, and bivalve larvae were the dominant species/groups in the three months. The effects of the nuclear power plant's outlet on the environment factors were mainly reflected in the increased seawater temperature. Redundancy analysis showed that the zooplankton community was jointly affected by seawater temperature, salinity and Chl a concentration, and the degree of this impact varied monthly. The impact of seawater temperature on the zooplankton community was stronger than that of salinity. The primary impact of the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant on the structure and distribution of the zooplankton community in the surrounding seawater during the summer was increased seawater temperature, which caused a reduction in the abundance of dominant species/groups.