Analysis of natural circulation types' effect on source term during PWR severe accident

Creep rupture as a failure mechanism during a severe accident in a PWR is of particular importance as it can lead to releasing radioactive materials into the environment. Following a severe accident, the decay heat transferred to other parts of the reactor cooling system can result in the heat-up of RCS structures and failure of vulnerable pressure boundaries. SBO without operator actions accident (TMLB sequence) is considered one of the most likely scenarios threatening the integrity of the RCS pressure boundary. In addition to PWR plant modeling, in this sequence, the location of rupture in the RCS depends on the type of natural circulation phenomenon of the reactor's primary side. This research investigates the sensitivity analysis of steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) and RCS hot-leg to the type of natural circulation, i.e. con-current and countercurrent, using the MELCOR code. The results of two models of con-current and countercurrent natural circulation show when the countercurrent natural circulation phenomenon is predominant, the RCS hot leg creep rupture occurs earlier than SGTR. However, the SGTR occurs earlier than any other part of RCS due to the concurrent natural circulation phenomenon. Moreover, the amount of materials released to different parts of the plant and the environment has been estimated for both models. The results show that about 18 kg and 145.76 kg of radioactive aerosol and fission product vapor materials are ejected to the containment following the rupture for con-current and countercurrent natural circulation models, respectively. On the other hand, in the con-current natural circulation, about 136.33 kg of radioactive aerosol and fission product vapor materials are released into the environment through the main steam line safety valve.