Original scientific paper
NPP Krško Station Blackout Analysis after Safety Upgrade Using MELCOR Code
Siniša Šadek
orcid.org/0000-0002-4707-0087
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing Unska 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Davor Grgić
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing Unska 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Vesna Benčik
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing Unska 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The analysis of a Station blackout (SBO) accident in the NPP Krško including thermalhydraulic
behaviour of the primary system and the containment, as well as the simulation of the
core degradation process, release of molten materials and production of hydrogen and other
incondensable gases will be presented in the paper. The calculation model includes the latest plant
safety upgrade with addition of Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners (PAR) and the Passive
Containment Filter Venting (PCFV) system. The code used is MELCOR, version 1.8.6. MELCOR
is an integral severe accident code which means that it can simulate both the primary reactor
system, including the core, and the containment. The code is being developed at Sandia National
Laboratories for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The analysis is conducted in two steps. First, the steady state calculation is performed in order
to confirm the applicability of the plant model and to obtain correct initial conditions for the
accident analysis. The second step is the calculation of the SBO accident with the leakage of the
coolant through the damaged reactor coolant pump seals. Without any active safety systems, the
reactor pressure vessel will fail after few hours. The mass and energy releases from the primary
system cause the containment pressurization and rise of the temperature. The newly added safety
systems, PAR and PCFV, prevent the damage of the containment building by keeping the thermalhydraulic
conditions below the design limits. The analysis results confirm the capability of the
safety systems to effectively control the containment conditions.
Results of the analysis are given with respect to the results of the MAAP 4.0.7 analysis for the
same accident scenario. The MAAP and MELCOR codes are the most popular severe accident
codes and, therefore, it is reasonable to compare their results. In addition, sensitivity calculations
performed by varying most influential parameters, such as the hot leg creep failure, blockage of a
pipe connecting the cavity and the sump, inclusion of a radionuclide package in the MELCOR, etc.
are done in order to demonstrate correct physical behaviour and the accuracy of the developed NPP
Krško MELCOR model.
Keywords
station blackout; core degradation; MELCOR; PCFV; containment integrity
Hrčak ID:
199646
URI
Publication date:
1.9.2017.
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