Risk-Informed Analysis for Enhanced Resilient Nuclear Power Plant with Initiatives including ATF, FLEX, and Advanced Battery Technology

Abstract

This report documents the activities performed by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during fiscal year (FY) 2021 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk-Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway as part of Enhanced Resilient Plant (ERP) Systems project. The purpose of the RISA Pathway research and development is to support plant owneroperator decisions with the aim to improve the economics, reliability, and maintain the high levels of safety of current nuclear power plants over periods of extended plant operations. The concept of ERP refers to a nuclear power plant (NPP) that is enhanced with various industry initiatives such as accidenttolerant fuel (ATF), optimal use of diverse and flexible coping strategy (FLEX), enhancements to plant components and systems, the incorporation of augmented or new passive cooling systems, and advanced battery technology with extended capacity. The objective of the ERP research effort is to use the RISA methods and toolkit in industry applications, including methods development and early demonstration of technologies, in order to enhance existing reactors' safety features and to substantially reduce operating costs through risk-informed approaches to plant design modifications and their characterization.

Characterization of Recovery Human Action Mechanisms in Nuclear Power Plants

“…The EMRALD software has been developed to support the increasing need for dynamic PSA models that can respond to evolving plant conditions during the simulation. The author's previous research attempted to conduct dynamic HRA using the EMRALD software, and developed the Procedure-based Investigation Method of EMRALD Risk Assessment -Human Reliability Analysis (PRIMERA-HRA) method (Zhang et al, 2021), which will be used in this study to quantify the recovery mechanisms.…”