Dated April 1989

La 4e de couverture indique : Organizes and presents all the latest thought on LWR nuclear safety in one consolidated volume, provided by the top experts in the field, ensuring high-quality, credible and easily accessible information.

The containment building surrounding a nuclear reactor offers the last barrier to the release of radioactive materials from a severe accident into the environment. The loading environment of the containment under severe accident conditions may include much greater than design pressures and temperatures. Investigations into the performance of containments subject to ultimate or failure pressure and temperature conditions have been performed over the last several years through a program administered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). These NRC sponsored investigations are subsequently discussed. Reviewed are the results of large scale experiments on reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, and steel containment models pressurized to failure. In conjunction with these major tests, the results of separate effect testing on many of the critical containment components; that is, aged and unaged seals, a personnel air lock and electrical penetration assemblies subjected to elevated temperature and pressure have been performed. An objective of the NRC program is to gain an understanding of the behavior of typical existing and planned containment designs subject to postulated severe accident conditions. This understanding has led to the development of experimentally verified analytical tools that can be applied to accurately predict their ultimate capacities useful in developing severe accident mitigation schemes. Finally, speculation on the response of containments subjected to severe accident conditions is presented.

Addresses containment design practices and compares the 2 different material types (steel and concrete). Various failure modes are evaluated and computed in previous containment designs. Margin in steel and concrete containment was compared by designing and analyzing a set of surrogate containment. The containment chosen encompass the primary types of containment shapes and construction materials. For compatibility, each containment has an identical internal volume and design pressure and temperature. These containments are designed according to all applicable code requirements for nuclear reactor containment structures.

The book analyses the risks of nuclear power stations. The security concept of reactors is explained. Measures against the spread of radioactivity after a severe accident, accidents of core melting and a possible crash of an air plane on reactor containment are discussed. The book covers three scientific subjects of the safety concepts of Light Water Reactors: – A first part describes the basic safety design concepts of operating German Pressurized Water Reactors and Boiling Water Reactors including accident management measures introduced after the reactor accidents of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. These safety concepts are also compared with the experiences of the Fukushima accidents. In addition, the safety design concepts of the future modern European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) and of the future modern Boiling Water Reactor SWR-1000 (KERENA) are presented. These are based on new safety research results of the past decades. – In a second, part the possible crash of military or heavy commercial air planes on reactor containment is analyzed. It is shown that reactor containments can be designed to resist to such an airplane crash. – In a third part, an online decision system is presented. It allows to analyze the distribution of radioactivity in the atmosphere and to the environment after a severe reactor accident. It provides data for decisions to be taken by authorities for the minimization of radiobiological effects to the population. This book appeals to readers who have an interest in save living conditions and some understanding for physics or engineering.