Thermal hydraulic behaviors during loss of RHR system at mid-loop operation of Chinese 300 MWe PWR NPP Original Research Article

Thermal hydraulic behavior of nuclear power plant (NPP) is analyzed by using mechanistic computer code for loss of residual heat removal (RHR) system during mid-loop operation of Chinese 300 MWe two-loop pressurized water reactor is presented. In the absence of recovery of RHR or other accident management measures, the reactor core will be uncovered for a long term resulting in core heat-up, degradation and relocation to the lower plenum. The effectiveness of available mitigate measures, such as safety injection system, gravity feed from refueling water storage tank (RWST) and steam generator (SG) reflux-condensation, are investigated. Coolant injection is highly effective in halting the accident progression and make the core recovered. The cooling capability of SG reflux-condensation has a relationship with different availabilities of steam generators and decay heat power. 6 days after shutdown, 2SG operation can keep the water level at mid-line of hot leg. 12 days after shutdown, both 2SG operation and 1SG operation can keep the water level at mid-line of hot leg. The analyses also indicate that the cooling mechanism of safety injection system is more effective than gravity feed from RWST and SG reflux-condensation. Through confirming the success criteria of SG reflux-condensation, time windows can be devided. Then, event trees for loss of RHR system under mid-loop operation are built with considering the analysis results and abnormal procedure.