Evaluation of severe accident risks and the potential for risk reduction: Sequoyah Power Station, Unit 1

Technical Report · Sun Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:6570373

Benjamin, A S; Kunsman, D M; Lewis, S R; Murfin, W B; Williams, D C

The Severe Accident Risk Reduction Program (SARRP) has completed a rebaselining of the risks to the public from a particular pressurized water reactor with an ice-condenser containment (Sequoyah, Unit 1). Emphasis was placed on determining the magnitude and character of the uncertainties, rather than focusing on a point estimate. The risk-reduction potential of a set of proposed safety option backfits was also studied, and their costs and benefits were also evaluated. It was found that the risks from internal events are generally comparable to those evaluated in the Reactor Safety Study for a different pressurized water reactor, although the calculated uncertainty bands indicate that pressurized water reactor, although the calculated uncertainty bands indicate that the risk could be either higher or lower by as much as an order of magnitude. Principal sources of uncertainty include the modeling of common-cause failure in the component cooling water system, the characteristics of hydrogen generation and burning, and the possibility of fission product releases that bypass the ice condenser. Most of the postulated safety options do not appear to be cost effective for the Sequoyah Plant; however, certain relatively inexpensive hardware and procedural changes to prevent core damage appear to be marginally cost effective. It should be noted that this work is based on a draft report of the ASEP study of core-damage frequency for Sequoyah.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA); Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA). Div. of Reactor Systems Safety
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6570373
• Report Number(s): NUREG/CR-4551-Vol.2; SAND-86-1309-Vol.2; ON: TI87010289
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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