EPRXDL
Authors & Affiliations
Gryazev A.S.1, Zhulina Yu. K.1, 2, Osipov A.M.1, Polyakov V.V.1
1 National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, Moscow, Russia
2 National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute”, Moscow, Russia
Gryazev A.S.1 – Head of the Laboratory, Cand. Sci. (Phys.-Math.).
Osipov A.M.1 – Head of the Department, Cand. Sci. (Tech.).
Polyakov V.V.1 – Lead Engineer.
Zhulina Yu.K.1, 2 – Research Assistant. Contacts: 1, pl. Akademika Kurchatova, Moscow, Russia, 123182. Tel.: +7 (499) 196-95-39; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Abstract
This paper presents an estimation of the hydrogen release from the water of the at-reactor spent fuel storage pool of NPP with RBMK-1000 at an initial stage of a blackout accident. The initial stage of the accident is considered, in which the storage pool cooling system fails, the ventilation system of the storage pool space above water surface fails, as a result of which the water in the storage pool is heated up to the boiling point at atmospheric pressure. The hydrogen release due to a decrease in its solubility at heating of spent fuel storage pool water during the beyond design basis accident, as also its generation due to water radiolysis are taken into account. A conservative approximation is used to estimate the potential explosion hazard of a gas mixture in the space above the water surface, assuming that there is no water vapor. A quantitation of the total hydrogen release from the water of one spent fuel storage pool at the initial stage of the beyond design basis accident with station blackout and times to explosive hydrogen concentrations. Moreover, the detonation parameters of a gas mixture were calculated using the 7λ criterion for the research object. This paper shows that the implementation of planned emergency measures (opening the covers of the slatted ceiling of the storage pool) is an effective way to prevent detonation and deflagration of hydrogen during the blackout accident.
Keywords
hydrogen, water radiolysis, solubility of gases in water, spent fuel storage pool, hydrogen explosive safety, deflagration, detonation, RBMK-1000, blackout accident
Article Text (PDF, in Russian)
References
- The Fukushima Daiichi accident. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, 2015.
- Mitigation of hydrogen hazards in severe accidents in nuclear power plants. IAEA-TECDOC-1661. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, 2011. 157 p.
- Kuznetsov M., Yanez J., Grune J., Friedrich A., Jordan T. Hydrogen combustion in a flat semi-confined layer with respect to the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Nucl. Eng. Des., 2015, vol. 286, pp. 36–48. DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.01.016.
- Yanez J., Kuznetsov M., Souto-Iglesias A. An analysis of the hydrogen explosion in the Fukushima-Daiichi accident. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2015, vol. 40, pp. 8261–8280. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.03.154.
- Kim D., Kim J. Numerical method to simulate detonative combustion of hydrogen-air mixture in a containment. Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics, 2019, vol. 13, pp. 938–953. DOI: 10.1080/19942060.2019.1660219.
- Gryazev A.S., Osipov A.M., Finoshkina D.V., Tupotilov I.A. Analysis of beyond design basis accident with hydrogen explosion in the at-reactor spent fuel storage pool of NPP with RBMK-1000. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2020, vol. 1689, p. 012005. DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1689/1/012005.
- NP-001-15. Federal'nyye normy i pravila v oblasti ispol'zovaniya atomnoy energii “Obshchiye polozheniya obespecheniya bezopasnosti atomnykh stantsiy” [NP-001-15. Federal norms and rules in the field of atomic energy use “General provisions for ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants”]. Moscow, Rostekhnadzor Publ., 2016. 75 p.
- NP-040-02. Pravila obespecheniya vodorodnoy vzryvozashchity na atomnoy stantsii [NP-040-02. Rules for ensuring hydrogen explosion protection at a nuclear power plant]. Moscow, Gosatomnadzor of Russia Publ., 2002. 10 p.
- Kubasov V.L., Bannikov V.V. Electrohimicheskaya technologiya neorganicheskih veshestv [Electrochemical technology of inorganic substances]. Мoscow, Khimiya Publ., 1989. 288 p.
- Shapiro Z.M., Moffette T.R. Hydrogen flammability data and application to PWR loss-of-coolant accident. USA, 1957.
- Gromov B.V., Savelyeva V.I., Shevchenko V.B. Himicheskaya technologiya obluchennogo yadernogo topliva [Chemical technology of irradiated nuclear fuel]. Moscow, Energoatomizdat Publ., 1983.
- Kabakchi S.A., Pikaev A.K. Metody rascheta gazovydeleniya i otsenki vzryvoopasnosti radiatsionno-khimicheskikh apparatov s vodyanym teplonositelem ili biologicheskoy zashchitoy. Radiatsionno-khimicheskaya tekhnologiya. Vyp. 7 [Methods for calculating gas emission and assessing the explosion hazard of radiation-chemical facilities with a water coolant or biological shield. Radiation-chemical technology. Issue 7]. Moscow, Energoizdat Publ., 1981. 51 p.
- Dean J.A. Lange's handbook of chemistry. 1999.
- Flame Acceleration and Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition in Nuclear Safety. OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, France, 2000.
- Dorofeev S.B., Kochurko A.S., Efimenko A.A., Chaivanov B.B. Evaluation of the hydrogen explosion hazard. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 1994, vol. 148, pp. 305–316. DOI: 10.1016/0029-5493(94)90116-3.
UDC 621.039.526.034.6+621.039.526.8:536.24
Problems of Atomic Science and Technology. Series: Nuclear and Reactor Constants, 2025, no. 2, 2:15
