AP1000 Design Basis Event Simulation at the APEX-1000 Test Facility
- Westinghouse Electric Company, P.O. Box 355, Pittsburgh, PA 15230-0355 (United States)
- Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR (United States)
The AP1000 is a 1000 MWe advanced nuclear power plant that uses passive safety features to enhance plant safety and to provide significant and measurable improvements in plant simplification, reliability, investment protection and plant costs. The AP1000 relies heavily on the 600 MWe AP600 which received design certification in 1999. A critical part of the AP600 design certification process involved the testing of the passive safety systems. A one-fourth height, one-fourth pressure test facility, APEX-600, was constructed at the Oregon State University to study design basis events, and to provide a body of data to be used to validate the computer models used to analyze the AP600. This facility was extensively modified to reflect the design changes for AP1000 including higher power in the electrically heated rods representing the reactor core, and changes in the size of the pressurizer, core makeup tanks and automatic depressurization system. Several design basis events are being simulated at APEX-1000 including a double-ended direct vessel injection (DEDVI) line break and a 2-inch cold leg break. These tests show that the core remains covered with ample margin until gravity injection is established regardless of the initiating event. The tests also show that liquid entrainment from the upper plenum which is proportional to the reactor power does not impact the ability of the passive core cooling system to keep the core covered. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21160644
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ICAPP'04: 2004 international congress on advances in nuclear power plants, Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 13-17 Jun 2004; Other Information: Country of input: France; 2 refs; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 2004 international congress on advances in nuclear power plants - ICAPP'04, 2338 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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