Abstract
For the evaluation of safety margin of a nuclear power plant using a conservative methodology, the influence of applied assumptions such as initial conditions and boundary conditions needs to be assessed deliberately. Usually, a combination of the most conservative initial conditions is determined, and the safety margin for the transient is evaluated through the analysis for this conservative conditions. In existing conservative methodologies, a most-conservative condition is searched through the analyses for the maximum, minimum, and nominal values of the major parameters. In the present study, we investigates a new approach which can be applied to choose a most-conservative initial condition effectively when a best-estimate computer code and a conservative evaluation methodology are utilized for the evaluation of safety margin of transients. By constituting the band of various initial conditions using the random sampling of input parameters, the sensitivity study for various parameters are performed systematically. A method of sampling the value of control or operation parameters for a certain range is adopted by use of MOSAIQUE program, which enables to minimize the efforts for achieving the steady-state for various different conditions. A representative control parameter is identified, which governs the reactor coolant flow rate, pressurizer pressure, pressurizer level, and steam generator level, respectively. It is shown that an appropriate distribution of input parameter is obtained by adjusting the range and distribution of the control parameter.