Publications

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Data, a brief description of key boundary conditions, and results of Sandia National Laboratories’ ongoing MELCOR analysis of the Fukushima Unit 2 accident are given for the reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC) system. Important assumptions and related boundary conditions in the current analysis additional to or different than what was assumed/imposed in the work of SAND2012-6173 are identified. This work is for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Programs fiscal year 2014 Reactor Safety Technologies Research and Development Program RC-7: RCIC Performance under Severe Accident Conditions.

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Expert panels comprised of subject matter experts identified at the U.S. National Laboratories (SNL, ANL, INL, ORNL, LBL, and BNL), universities (University of Wisconsin and Ohio State University), international agencies (IRSN, CEA, JAEA, KAERI, and JRC-IE) and private consultation companies (Radiation Effects Consulting) were assembled to perform a gap analysis for sodium fast reactor licensing. Expert-opinion elicitation was performed to qualitatively assess the current state of sodium fast reactor technologies. Five independent gap analyses were performed resulting in the following topical reports: (1) Accident Initiators and Sequences (i.e., Initiators/Sequences Technology Gap Analysis), (2) Sodium Technology Phenomena (i.e., Advanced Burner Reactor Sodium Technology Gap Analysis), (3) Fuels and Materials (i.e., Sodium Fast Reactor Fuels and Materials: Research Needs), (4) Source Term Characterization (i.e., Advanced Sodium Fast Reactor Accident Source Terms: Research Needs), and (5) Computer Codes and Models (i.e., Sodium Fast Reactor Gaps Analysis of Computer Codes and Models for Accident Analysis and Reactor Safety). Volume II of the Sodium Research Plan consolidates the five gap analysis reports produced by each expert panel, wherein the importance of the identified phenomena and necessities of further experimental research and code development were addressed. The findings from these five reports comprised the basis for the analysis in Sodium Fast Reactor Research Plan Volume I.

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Sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) continue to be proposed and designed throughout the United States and the world. Although the number of SFRs actually operating has declined substantially since the 1980s, a significant interest in advancing these types of reactor systems remains. Of the many issues associated with the development and deployment of SFRs, one of high regulatory importance is the source term to be used in the siting of the reactor. A substantial amount of modeling and experimental work has been performed over the past four decades on accident analysis, sodium coolant behavior, and radionuclide release for SFRs. The objective of this report is to aid in determining the gaps and issues related to the development of a realistic, mechanistically derived source term for SFRs. This report will allow the reader to become familiar with the severe accident source term concept and gain a broad understanding of the current status of the models and experimental work. Further, this report will allow insight into future work, in terms of both model development and experimental validation, which is necessary in order to develop a realistic source term for SFRs.

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Separation distances are used in hydrogen refueling stations to protect people, structures, and equipment from the consequences of accidental hydrogen releases. Specifically, hydrogen jet flames resulting from ignition of unintended releases can be extensive in length and pose significant radiation and impingement hazards. Depending on the leak diameter and source pressure, the resulting separation distances can be unacceptably large. One possible mitigation strategy to reduce exposure to hydrogen flames is to incorporate barriers around hydrogen storage, process piping, and delivery equipment. The effectiveness of barrier walls to reduce hazards at hydrogen facilities has been previously evaluated using experimental and modeling information developed at Sandia National Laboratories. The effect of barriers on the risk from different types of hazards including direct flame contact, radiation heat fluxes, and overpressures associated with delayed hydrogen ignition has subsequently been evaluated and used to identify potential reductions in separation distances in hydrogen facilities. Both the frequency and consequences used in this risk assessment and the risk results are described. The results of the barrier risk analysis can also be used to help establish risk-informed barrier design requirements for use in hydrogen codes and standards.

The MELCOR computer code has been developed by Sandia National Laboratories under USNRC sponsorship to provide capability for independently auditing analyses submitted by reactor manufactures and utilities. MELCOR is a fully integrated code (encompassing the reactor coolant system and the containment building) that models the progression of postulated accidents in light water reactor power plants. To assess the adequacy of containment thermal-hydraulic modeling incorporated in the MELCOR code for application to PWR large dry containments, several selected demonstration designs were analyzed. This report documents MELCOR code demonstration calculations performed for postulated design basis accident (DBA) analysis (LOCA and MSLB) inside containment, which are compared to other code results. The key processes when analyzing the containment loads inside PWR large dry containments are (1) expansion and transport of high mass/energy releases, (2) heat and mass transfer to structural passive heat sinks, and (3) containment pressure reduction due to engineered safety features. A code-to-code benchmarking for DBA events showed that MELCOR predictions of maximum containment loads were equivalent to similar predictions using a qualified containment code known as CONTAIN. This equivalency was found to apply for both single- and multi-cell containment models.