Seismic isolation: A pathway to standardized advanced nuclear reactors

Journal Article · Fri Dec 24 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Nuclear Engineering and Design

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111445· OSTI ID:1977500

Parsi, Sai Sharath ^[1]; Lal, Kaivalya M. ^[2]; Kosbab, Benjamin D. ^[3]; Ingersoll, Eric D. ^[4]; Shirvan, Koroush ^[5]; Whittaker, Andrew S. ^[2]

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1. State University of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States); OSTI
2. State University of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)
3. Simpson, Gumpertz, and Heger, Atlanta, GA (United States)
4. LucidCatalyst, Cambridge, MA (United States)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Standardizing advanced nuclear reactors is a pathway to substantially reducing their overnight capital cost and achieving parity with other power sources, including renewables and fossil fuels. The seismic load case has thwarted standardization of nuclear power plants because site-specific seismic hazard and local near-surface geology has triggered soil-structure-interaction analysis, design, equipment qualification, regulatory review, and licensing, ensuring that each build is different. To achieve standardized or site-independent certified advanced reactor designs, the impact of the seismic load case on the engineering and construction cost and time must be substantially mitigated. Seismic isolation is a mature technology that has been used for more than 30 years in non-nuclear sectors to substantially reduce earthquake demands in buildings and other infrastructure. In this paper, seismic isolation is used to enable standardization of advanced reactor designs, aimed at the complete re-use of a site-independent, certified design and repeated procurement of safety-class equipment. A pathway to standardized designs using seismic isolation is demonstrated for two fundamentally different advanced reactors: a molten salt reactor and a high temperature gas reactor. Each reactor building is equipped with three specialized pieces of safety-class equipment, namely, a reactor vessel, a steam generator, and a control rod drive mechanism housing that is attached to the reactor head. Analysis is performed per ASCE and ASME standards to design the buildings and the equipment for two base conditions: conventional (fixed base) and base isolated. The impact of the seismic load case is characterized for the reinforced concrete walls in the buildings and for the equipment, measured using vessel wall thickness and horizontal accelerations. Here the analysis results show that the fixed-base buildings, designed for a site of low seismic hazard (peak ground acceleration, PGA = 0.15 g) could be constructed at a site of much greater seismic hazard (PGA = 0.7 g) if seismic base isolation is employed. Importantly, the scope of the site-specific analysis, design, and qualification would be limited to the seismic isolators and the isolated substructure, drastically reducing plant-specific engineering, review, and licensing, and time to construction start. Regulatory challenges and opportunities with standardized reactor designs are identified.

• Research Organization: State University of New York (SUNY), Albany, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
• Grant/Contract Number: AR0000978
• OSTI ID: 1977500
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1841064
• Journal Information: Nuclear Engineering and Design, Journal Name: Nuclear Engineering and Design Journal Issue: C Vol. 387; ISSN 0029-5493
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
advanced nuclear reactors
safety-class equipment
seismic isolation
seismic load case
standardized reactor design