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THAI experimental research on hydrogen risk and source term related safety systems

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Abstract

In the defense-in-depth concept employed for the safety of nuclear installations, maintaining integrity of containment as the last barrier is of high importance to limit the release of radioactivity to the environment in case of a severe accident. The active and passive safety systems implemented in containments of light water reactors (LWRs) are designed to limit the consequences of such accidents. Assessing the performance and reliability of such systems under accident conditions is critical to the safety of nuclear installations.

In the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, there has been focus on re-examining the existing safety systems to demonstrate their capabilities for a broader range of boundary conditions comprising both the early as well as the late phases of an accident. In addition to the performance testing of safety systems, their interaction with containment atmosphere needs detailed investigations to evaluate the effects of operation of safety systems on H2 risk and fission product (FP) behavior in containment, which may ultimately have an impact on the source term to the environment.

In this context, an extensive containment safety related experimental research has been conducted in a thermal-hydraulics, hydrogen, aerosols, and iodine test facility (THAI, 60 m3, single vessel)/(THAI−, 80 m3, two interconnected vessels). Related to the subject of this paper, experimental investigations covered performance testing of various safety and mitigation systems, i.e., containment spray, passive autocatalytic recombiner (PAR), pressure suppression pool (water pools), and effects of their operation on H2 risk and in-containment FP behavior. The experimental results have provided a better phenomenological understanding and database for validation and further improvement of a safety analysis tool based on computation fluid dynamic (CFD) and lumped parameter (LP) modeling approach. This paper summarizes the main insights obtained from the aforesaid THAI experimental research covering safety systems installed in containments of LWRs. The relevance of experimental outcomes for reactor safety purpose is also discussed.

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Abbreviations

AICC:

Adiabatic Isochoric Complete Combustion

AIM:

Advanced Iodine Model

APR:

Advanced Power Reactor

AW:

Aerosol Washdown

BMC:

Battelle Model Containment

BMWi:

Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy)

BWR:

Boiling Water Reactor

CFD:

Computational Fluid Dynamic

COCOSYS:

Containment Code System

CSNI:

Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations

DBA:

Design Basis Accident

FCVS:

Filtered Containment Venting System

FP:

Fission Product

GRS:

Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit

HD:

Hydrogen Deflagration

HR:

Hydrogen Recombiner

Iod:

Iodine

IPRESCA:

Integration of Pool Scrubbing Research to Enhance Source-term Calculations

LDA:

Laser Doppler Anemometer

LOCA:

Loss of Coolant Accident

LP:

Lumped Parameter

LWR:

Light Water Reactor

MCCI:

Molten Corium Concrete Interaction

METUSA:

Minimal Encroaching Turnable Streamwise Anemometers

MMD:

Mass Median Diameter

NEA:

Nuclear Energy Agency

NPP:

Nuclear Power Plant

OECD:

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PAD:

Parallel Attachable Drum

PAR:

Passive Autocatalytic Recombiner

PIV:

Particle Image Velocimetry

PWR:

Pressurized Water Reactor

RCS:

Reactor Coolant System

SAM:

Severe Accident Management

SMD:

Sauter Mean Diameter

TH:

Thermal- Hydraulic

THAI:

Thermal-hydraulics, Hydrogen, Aerosols, and Iodine

THEMIS:

THAI Experiments on mitigation measures, and source term issues to support analysis and further improvement of severe accident management measures

TMI:

Three Mile Island

TTV:

THAI Test Vessel

VVER:

Voda Voda Energo Reactor (Water-Water Energetic Reactor)

WGAMA:

Working Group on Analysis and Management of Accidents

WH:

Water Hydrodynamic

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Acknowledgements

THAI experimental research program is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, on the basis of a decision of the German Bundestag. The sponsorship by the countries of the OECD/NEA THAI, THAI-2, THAI-3 and the ongoing THEMIS projects is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Becker Technologies GmbH, Rahmannstrasse 11, Eschborn, 65760, Germany

    Sanjeev Gupta, Martin Freitag & Gerhard Poss

Authors
  1. Sanjeev Gupta
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  2. Martin Freitag
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Correspondence to Sanjeev Gupta.

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Gupta, S., Freitag, M. & Poss, G. THAI experimental research on hydrogen risk and source term related safety systems. Front. Energy 15, 887–915 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0789-1

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