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Preliminary Analysis of an Aged RPV Subjected to Station Blackout

Author

Listed:
  • Rosa Lo Frano

    (Department of Industrial and Civil Engineering (DICI), University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy)

  • Salvatore Angelo Cancemi

    (Department of Industrial and Civil Engineering (DICI), University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy)

  • Piotr Darnowski

    (Institute of Heat Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Nowowiejska 21/25, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Riccardo Ciolini

    (Department of Industrial and Civil Engineering (DICI), University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy)

  • Sandro Paci

    (Department of Industrial and Civil Engineering (DICI), University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy)

Abstract

Today, 46% of operating Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) have a lifetime between 31 and 40 years, while 19% have been in operation for more than 40 years. Long Term Operation (LTO) is an urgent requirement for all of the nuclear industry. The aim of this study is to assess the performance of a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) subjected to a station blackout (SBO) event. Alterations suffered by the material properties and creep at elevated temperatures are considered. In this study, coupling between MELCOR and Finite Element Method (FEM) codes is carried out. In the Finite Element (FE) model, the combined effects of ageing and creep are implemented through degraded material properties and a viscoplastic model. The reliability of the model is validated by comparing the FOREVER/C1 experimental results. The results show that the RPV lower head bends downwards with a maximum radial expansion of about 260 mm and RPV thermomechanical properties are reduced by more than 50% at high temperatures. The effects of ageing, creep and long heat-up strongly affect the resistance of the RPV system until the point of compromising it in the absence of/delayed emergency intervention. Aged RPV at end-of-life may collapse earlier, and in less time, with the same accidental conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosa Lo Frano & Salvatore Angelo Cancemi & Piotr Darnowski & Riccardo Ciolini & Sandro Paci, 2021. "Preliminary Analysis of an Aged RPV Subjected to Station Blackout," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:15:p:4394-:d:598277
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    Cited by:

    1. Jianhui Wu & Jingen Chen & Chunyan Zou & Xiaoxiao Li, 2022. "Accident Modeling and Analysis of Nuclear Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-3, August.

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