Nuclear energy can make an important contribution to low-carbon energy supply for Industry 4.0, while Industry 4.0 can reform this industry in return. As a typical and complex man-machine-network integration system, various faults, insufficient automation and stressed human operators limit the further popularization of nuclear power plants (NPPs) while these issues can be addressed by the aid of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. In this work, we try to present a systemic review of how AI can benefit NPPs in a top-to-down fashion. We discuss limitations in current NPPs and introduce the concept of Nuclear Power Plant Human-Cyber-Physical System (NPPHCPS) as the top-level design. Then, we category AI-related nuclear power applications into Physical-Plant-Centered and Human-Operator-Centered technologies and review research works from 7 typical NPP functional scenarios in the recent two decades. In each NPP functional scenario, how researchers integrate AI into NPPs is presented following timeline. We hope this review can be used as the guideline for NPPs' Design in the future and contribute to green Industry 4.0.
Traditional design of CPR1000 nuclear plants has a lot of studies on engineering safety facilities which are important for Design Basis Conditions (DBC). Based on more recent studies on safety, such as Defense in Depth (DID) concept, Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA), and especially after lessons from Fukushima Nuclear Accident, more and more attentions are paid to Design Extension Conditions (DEC). This paper has studied the abilities and requirements of CPR1000 Nuclear Plants for DEC accidents mitigation. Some important modifications on mechanical systems are introduced.
DEC accidents are separated into DEC-A, and DEC-B. DEC-A accidents are caused by multiple failures. A main reason for a multiple failure is Common Cause Failure (CCF), such as CCF on Emergency Feed Water System (EFWS) pumps, Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) pumps, Emergency Diesel Generators or Cooling chain. Diverse design should be considered to deal with CCF. Several modifications are applied, such as enhancing EFWS turbine pumps, fast-backup between ECCS and Containment Spray System (CSS), mobile water makeup and mobile injection for primary and secondary side, etc. For DEC-B, which means severe accidents, several dedicated systems are added to CPR1000 design, such as hydrogen monitor and control, containment venting filter and In-Vessel Retention systems. Thanks to all the modifications, CPR1000 can sufficiently improve its defense for DEC accidents, which will help CPR1000 to reach a new safety level.
A barrier that limits the development of the nuclear power plants is the problem of the depressurization for severe accidents. The present work addresses this issue by adding the dedicated severe accident depressurization system that is placed on the top of the pressurizer. This design enables the excessive heat to be directly pumped into the atmosphere to lower the pressure in the containment. The theoretical and numerical results indicated that the addition of the dedicated severe accident depressurization system does not affect the performance of the second generation of PWRs. More importantly, this design not only significantly reduces the LERF value but also facilitates the modification of the present structure.
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