Severe accident on the Fukushima NPP lowered the public trust for nuclear power engineering and must lead to the revision of the NPPs safety substantiation in the trend of the more strict regulatory body’s requirements. This relates to the deterministic (DSA) and probabilistic (PSA) safety analysis. In the author’s opinion, the most effective increase in the safety should be reached due to convergence or harmonization of deterministic and probabilistic methods. In particular, at fulfillment of DBAs in a number of cases one should consciously move in the direction of more realistic analysis of the actually BDBAs emergencies (in the traditional understanding) with the imposition of more than one Initiating Event (IE) or more than one Single Failure. In turn, when the PSA is fulfilled one should move from the realistic analysis without taking into account uncertainties in the direction of their reasonably conservative calculation. This work presents the practical realization of harmonious interaction of methods DSA and PSA based on the example of the estimation of the minimally sufficient CRs CPS for WWERs. A new conceptual approach to the definition of a minimum required quantity of CRs as part of the Spatial Effects Methodology is presented here and in papers [15, 16]. This approach combines the neutron-physical, thermal-hydraulic and probabilistic aspects, using DBC’s Fuel Criteria generally accepted for CD realization. Analysis is performed with the up-to-date coupled code KORSAR/GP [1–3] on example of the mode MSLB, which has the most dependence on EP with respect to any other accident.
This paper presents an approach that allows:
- to assess the EP success criteria with multiple stuck CRs for the purposes of PSA. In other words — assess the maximum number of stuck CRs when CD does not yet occur;
- justify the low (P_EPfail ≤ 10−5, in accordance with Russian State Standard [4]) probability of EP failure on demand, for different amounts of CRs in a range from 49 till 121 pcs. Furthermore, this probability allows substantiate the low partial CD probability P_CDpartial < ∼10−10 for concrete scenarios with multiple stuck CRs as a negligible contribution in the total CD probability which should be P_CDtotal < 10−5;
- a joint optimization for positioning and quantities of CRs and power monitoring detectors (SPND) in central cell of FAs. Indeed, if the total number of CRs in WWER-1000 becomes more than 79–85 pcs, it creates some inconvenience, particularly the need to shift the power monitoring detectors from the central cell of fuel assembly into another noncentral cell.
A research into the feasibility of green roof design in Russia: a case study of the Ryazan region
