A comparative risk assessment for the Russian V213 power reactor
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics
- American Nuclear Insurers, Farmington, CT (United States)
- Idaho National Engineering Lab., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Probabilistic risk assessment methodology is applied to generate an evaluation of the relative likelihood of safe recovery following selected pressurized water reactor (PWR) design basis accidents for a Russian V213 nuclear power reactor. US-designed PWRs similar to the V213 are used for reference and comparison. This V213 risk assessment is based on comparison analyses of the following aspects: accident progression event tree success paths for typical PWR accident initiating events, safety aspects in reactor design, and perceived performance of reactor safety systems. The four initiating events considered here are: loss of offsite power with station blackout, large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), medium-break LOCA, and small-break LOCA. The success probabilities for the V213 reaching a non-core-damage state after the onset of the selected initiating events are calculated for two scenarios: (a) using actual component reliability data from US PWRs and (b) assuming common component reliability data. US PWR component reliability data are used based of the unavailability of such data for the V213 at the time of the analyses. While the use of US PWR data in this risk assessment of the V213 does strongly infer V213 comparability to US plants, the risk assessment using common component reliability does not have such a stringent limitation and is thus a separate scoping assessment of the V213 engineered safety systems. The results of the analyses suggest that the V213 has certain design features that significantly improve the reactor`s safety margin for the selected initiating events and that the V213 design has a relative risk of core damage for selected initiating events that is at least comparable to US PWRs. It is important to realize that these analyses are of a scoping nature and may be significantly influenced by important risk factors such as V213 operator training, quality control, and maintenance procedures.
- OSTI ID:
- 227932
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 114, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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