Structural Integrity Evaluation of a Reactor Cavity during a Steam Explosion for External Reactor Vessel Cooling

Sang-Hyun Park, Kwang-Hyun Bang and Jong-Rae Cho
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Sang-Hyun Park: Division of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Maritime & Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea
Kwang-Hyun Bang: Division of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Maritime & Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea
Jong-Rae Cho: Division of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Maritime & Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: Nuclear power is a major source of electricity in the international community. However, a significant problem with nuclear power is that, if a severe nuclear accident occurs, radiation may leak and cause great damage. As such, research on nuclear safety has become increasingly popular worldwide. In this paper, the structural integrity of a reactor cavity during a steam explosion—one kind of the aforementioned severe nuclear accidents—was evaluated. Steam explosions are primarily caused by fuel–coolant interactions (FCI), and result from issues in the cooling system that discharges the melt from the reactor core to the outside. A steam explosion can damage the nuclear power plant, and radiation leakage, the greatest concern, may occur. In the Chernobyl or Fukushima Daiichi accidents, significant radiation leakages resulted in damages extending beyond the country of origin. In this paper, a steam explosion was simulated using values given by the transient analysis code for explosive reactions (TRACER-II)—the only steam explosion code in Korea. The walls of the reactor cavity were modeled after the APR-1400 currently operating in Korea. The integrity of the concrete, rebars, and liner plate in the reactor cavity during a steam explosion was evaluated in terms of stress and ductile failure strain limits.

Keywords: nuclear power plant; reactor cavity; steam explosion; structural integrity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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