Xing, J.; Huo, X.; Li, W.; Yuan, Y.; Guo, Q.; Zhang, L.; Guo, Y.; Pei, J.; Ma, W. A Review on Ex-Vessel Melt Retention Measures Adopted in Light Water Reactors. Preprints2024, 2024100066. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0066.v1
APA Style
Xing, J., Huo, X., Li, W., Yuan, Y., Guo, Q., Zhang, L., Guo, Y., Pei, J., & Ma, W. (2024). A Review on Ex-Vessel Melt Retention Measures Adopted in Light Water Reactors. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0066.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Xing, J., Jie Pei and Weimin Ma. 2024 "A Review on Ex-Vessel Melt Retention Measures Adopted in Light Water Reactors" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202410.0066.v1
Abstract
As the cornerstone of severe accident management strategy, either in-vessel or ex-vessel retention of core melt (IVR or EVR) plays a pivotal role in the stabilization and termination of a severe accident, and ultimately secures the safety goal of “Practical elimination of large radioactive release” for light water reactors. In contrast to the IVR measures that are more or less identical in reactor designs, the EVR measures are quite different from design to design. This paper was intended to give a critical review on the EVR measures adopted in the reactor designs of VVER-1000, EPR, ESBWR, EU-APR1400 and APWR. The review study began with a general description of the existing EVR measures, including their principles, operational procedures and research efforts. We then focused our discussions on the pros and cons of each EVR measure, through the comparisons with the IVR and with the others in terms of simplicity, reliability and economy. We finally tried to identify the remaining issues and uncertainties in the qualification of the EVR measures, based on which potential design improvements and future research needs were recommended.
Keywords
severe accident; ex-vessel melt retention; core catcher
Subject
Engineering, Energy and Fuel Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
