Nuclear Reactor Safety

1st Edition - January 1, 1977
Editor: F Farmer
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 1 5 9 6 8 - 5

Nuclear Reactor Safety aims to put the nuclear hazard in perspective by providing an objective overall technical review of the field. It focuses on reactor accidents and their… Read more

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Nuclear Reactor Safety aims to put the nuclear hazard in perspective by providing an objective overall technical review of the field. It focuses on reactor accidents and their consequences. The technical arguments will be concerned broadly with reactor accident conditions and will deal with both the arrangements necessary to prevent any dangerous diversion from normal operation and to ameliorate the consequences if such a diversion should occur. The book is organized into three parts. Part I describes the nature of fission products and the hazards to man and his environment resulting from the uncontrolled release of fission products in accident conditions. Part II discusses a quantitative approach to reactor safety assessment and the quantification of vessel integrity. Part III deals with the basic principles of analysis and assessment of reactor safety, and then considers the specific safety problems of thermal and fast reactors in detail. This book is intended for two types of readers. First are technicians, those engaged in nuclear engineering: designers, constructors, and operators of nuclear stations, as well as those who would make a career in nuclear safety. Second are those (not necessarily scientists) who are tasked with making decisions in the field of energy use and allocation, or are concerned with environmental matters.

List of Contributors

Preface

1 Introduction

2 Radioactivity and the Fission Products

Introduction

Radioactivity and Its Effects

Fission Product Quantities and Relative Importance

The Chemical Form of Fission Products and Their Behavior in Normal Reactor Operation

Fission Product Behavior in Accident Conditions

References

3 Radiation Hazards and Environmental Consequences of Reactor Accidents

Radiation Hazards and Health Physics Control Levels

Reactor Accidents and Fission Product Release to the Atmosphere

References

4 The Calculated Risk—A Safety Criterion

References

5 Quantitative Approach to Reliability of Control and Instrumentation Systems

Introduction

Reliability and Probability

Equipment Failure Rates

Typical Systems

Analysis of Protective Systems

Reliability Assessment of Protective Equipment

General Methods of Assessment of Overall Performance

References

6 The Reliability of Heat Removal Systems

Introduction

Heat Sources

Reliability Targets

Reliability Evaluation

Reactor Systems

Decay Heat Rejection Capacity

Reliability Analysis of Thermal Syphon Loops

Logic Diagram

Criterion for System Failure

Analysis Using NOTED Program

Results

Common Fault Modes

Pressurized Reactors

Discussion

Appendix. Mathematical Models

References

7 The Integrity of Pressure Vessels

Introduction

Requirements

Statistical Evidence

Relevant Experience of Nuclear Pressure Vessel Integrity

Experience and Estimates Based on Nonnuclear Pressure Vessels

Summary of Relevant Nonnuclear Experience

Extrapolation to Nuclear Vessels

Discussion

Conclusions

References

8 Thermal Reactor Safety

Fission Product Releases

Reactivity Faults

Loss-of-Flow Faults

Loss-of-Pressure Faults

References

9 Safety of Fast Reactors

Special Features Important to Safety in Fast Reactors

Sources of Hazard

Faults Due to Local Loss of Cooling in a Subassembly

Fuel Handling Faults

Containment

The Effect of a "Hypothetical" Severe Accident on Containment

Summary

References

Index