Chinese Public and Nuclear Experts May Have Different Perceptions Of Severe Nuclear Accidents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsingtzu Wu ◽  
Leyao Huang

Abstract Nuclear power has been a controversial social issue, and societal acceptance is critical to its development and future. In addition, risk informed rules and regulations rely on the public’s understanding. However, there seems a communication gap about nuclear safety between nuclear experts and the public in China, and three questionnaire surveys were conducted to better understand Chinese public’s perceptions of a severe nuclear accident. The sample sizes were 117, 280 and 1071. Most of the respondents were students or white-collar workers born after 1990. In these three surveys, we found that more than 85% of respondents consider a less severe accident as a severe nuclear accident, and most respondents considered an incident to constitute a severe nuclear accident. The results demonstrate that nuclear experts and Chinese public may have different definitions of a severe nuclear accident. Therefore, we suggest that the definition of severe accidents should be better explained to the public to benefit the communication about risk informed rules and regulations. In addition, our three different surveys yielded a similar result, and we anticipate that a questionnaire survey with a larger sample size would do the same.

2016 ◽  
pp. 37-38
Author(s):  
G. Kopchinsky

Ukraine, which experienced a severe nuclear accident, crucially necessitates efficient methods for management of severe accidents, appropriate response systems for maintaining and recovery of safety functions and primarily the fundamental ones. The paper refers to the need to deepen and systematically extend measures for improving safety of nuclear power plants, taking into account all internal and external man-made and natural events, and the dynamics in changing of their characteristics during NPP operational lifetime using state-of-the-art computer analytical tools and a significant revision of regulatory requirements.


Author(s):  
Peng Chen ◽  
Weifeng Xu ◽  
Fangqing Yang ◽  
Yehong Liao

In order to deal with the nuclear severe accidents, the severe accident management systems are popularly considered and developed at home and abroad recently. A severe accident management system usually includes these functional parts: accident monitor, accident diagnosis, accident simulation, accident prognosis and SAMG support. Here, the accident diagnosis part is mainly concerned, and three nuclear accident diagnosis methods are introduced here, including BP neural network method, SDG expert diagnosis technique and artificial diagnosis method, which are also applied to a severe accident management system developed by us. In this paper, firstly, the severe accident management system developed by us will be introduced briefly. Then, three accident diagnosis methods for nuclear power plant (NPP) are showed and described in detail. At last, two cases including LOCA and SGTR accidents are used for the verification of these accident diagnosis methods and some analyzing results and conclusions are given. The results show that the three diagnosis methods are very useful for the accident diagnosis of NPP, which can diagnose the accident type accurately and offer much information or support to the severe accident management system and operators. The paper offers some reference significance for the research of accident diagnosis methods and the development of severe accident management system.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Paci ◽  
Jean-Pierre Van Dorsselaere

The SARNET2 (severe accidents Research NETwork of Excellence) project started in April 2009 for 4 years in the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Commission (EC), following a similar first project in FP6. Forty-seven organisations from 24 countries network their capacities of research in the severe accident (SA) field inside SARNET to resolve the most important remaining uncertainties and safety issues on SA in water-cooled nuclear power plants (NPPs). The network includes a large majority of the European actors involved in SA research plus a few non-European relevant ones. The “Education and Training” programme in SARNET is a series of actions foreseen in this network for the “spreading of excellence.” It is focused on raising the competence level of Master and Ph.D. students and young researchers engaged in SA research and on organizing information/training courses for NPP staff or regulatory authorities (but also for researchers) interested in SA management procedures.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimazono Susumu

Abstract Until the 1990s, a commonly held view in Japan was that Buddhism had withdrawn from public space, or that Buddhism had become a private concern. Although Buddhist organizations conducted relief and support activities for the people affected at the time of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, they were often seen to be out of place, and little attention was given to them by the media. However recently there are areas in which Buddhism can be seen as playing new roles in the public sphere. Religious organizations seem to be expected to perform functions in fields that lie outside the narrow definition of religion. These expectations are becoming stronger among Buddhist organizations as well. In this paper, I describe some areas in the public sphere in which Buddhist groups are starting to play important roles including disaster relief, support of the poor and people without relatives, provision of palliative care and spiritual care, and involvement in environmental and nuclear plant issues.


Author(s):  
Tamás János Katona ◽  
András Vilimi

Paks Nuclear Power Plant identified the post-Fukushima actions for mitigation and management of severe accidents caused by external events that include updating of some hazard assessments, evaluation of capacity / margins of existing severe accident management facilities, and construction of some mew systems and facilities. In all cases, the basic question was, what level of margin has to be ensured above design basis external hazard effects, and what level of or hazard has to be taken for the design. Paks Nuclear Power Plant developed certain an applicable in the practice concept for the qualification of already implemented and design the new post-Fukushima measures that is outlined in the paper. The concept and practice is presented on several examples.


Thermo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-167
Author(s):  
Hai V. Pham ◽  
Masaki Kurata ◽  
Martin Steinbrueck

Since the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011, a considerable number of studies have been conducted to develop accident tolerant fuel (ATF) claddings for safety enhancement of light water reactors. Among many potential ATF claddings, silicon carbide is one of the most promising candidates with many superior features suitable for nuclear applications. In spite of many potential benefits of SiC cladding, there are some concerns over the oxidation/corrosion resistance of the cladding, especially at extreme temperatures (up to 2000 °C) in severe accidents. However, the study of SiC steam oxidation in conventional test facilities in water vapor atmospheres at temperatures above 1600 °C is very challenging. In recent years, several efforts have been made to modify existing or to develop new advanced test facilities to perform material oxidation tests in steam environments typical of severe accident conditions. In this article, the authors outline the features of SiC oxidation/corrosion at high temperatures, as well as the developments of advanced test facilities in their laboratories, and, finally, give some of the current advances in understanding based on recent data obtained from those advanced test facilities.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadim E. Seleznev ◽  
Vladimir V. Aleshin ◽  
Sergey N. Pryalov

The paper describes one of the variants of mathematical models of a fluid dynamics process inside the containment, which occurs in the conditions of operation of spray systems in severe accidents at nuclear power plant. The source of emergency emissions in this case is the leak of the coolant or rupture at full cross-section of the main circulating pipeline in a reactor building. Leak or rupture characteristics define the localization and the temporal law of functioning of a source of emergency emission (or accrued operating) of warmed up hydrogen and steam in the containment. Operation of this source at the course of analyzed accident models should be described by the assignment of the relevant Dirichlet boundary conditions. Functioning of the passive autocatalytic recombiners of hydrogen is described in the form of the complex Newton boundary conditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás János Katona ◽  
András Vilimi

Paks Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) identified the post-Fukushima actions for mitigation and management of severe accidents caused by external events that include updating of some hazard assessments, evaluation of margins of existing severe accident management (SAM) facilities, and construction of some new systems and facilities. While developing the SAM strategy, the basic question was what is the sufficient margin above the design basis level of existing structures, systems, and components for avoiding the cliff-edge effects, and what level of or hazard should be taken for the design of new structures and systems dedicated for SAM. Paks NPP developed an applicable in the practice concept for the qualification of already implemented SAM measures and design the new post-Fukushima measures that are outlined in the paper. The concept is based on the generalization of the procedure and assumptions used in the definition of acceptable margins for seismic loads, analysis of the steepness of the hazard curves and features of the hazards. Justification of the definition of exceedance probability of the design basis effects for the design of SAM systems is given based on the first order reliability theory. The application of the concept is presented on several practical examples.


2013 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 555-560
Author(s):  
Yun Na Wu ◽  
Mandula Naren ◽  
Yi Li Han ◽  
He Ping Wang

In recent years, like many people from other countries, the Chinese people pay close attention to nation’s development and policy of nuclear power, especially after the Fukushima incident. Furthermore, the concerns become exacerbated with the discussion about building the inland nuclear power plant. At the same time, the enthusiasm of the public participation which has its own characteristics has greatly improved in China. There is limited experience in the field of nuclear power decision-making in China. In this context, this paper comprehensive analyzes the Chinese public participation in decision-making of the nuclear power industry, summarizing the characteristics of public participation in this field. Then a typical case analysis with On-site visit and interview is made for verifying our theory. Based on these studies, some suggestions are put forward.


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