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http://dx.doi.org/10.7734/COSEIK.2014.27.3.191

Structural Integrity Evaluation of Reactor Pressure Vessel Bottom Head without Penetration Nozzles in Core Melting Accident  

Lee, Yun Joo (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Nuclear Steam Supply System Division)
Kim, Jong Min (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Nuclear Steam Supply System Division)
Kim, Hyun Min (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Nuclear Steam Supply System Division)
Lee, Dae Hee (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Nuclear Steam Supply System Division)
Chung, Chang Kyu (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Nuclear Steam Supply System Division)
Publication Information
Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea / v.27, no.3, 2014 , pp. 191-198 More about this Journal
Abstract
In this paper, structural integrity evaluation of reactor pressure vessel bottom head without penetration nozzles in core melting accident has been performed. Considering the analysis results of thermal load, weight of molten core debris and internal pressure, thermal load is the most significant factor in reactor vessel bottom head. The failure probability was evaluated according to the established failure criteria and the evaluation showed that the equivalent plastic strain results are lower than critical strain failure criteria. Thermal-structural coupled analyses show that the existence of elastic zone with a lower stress than yield strength is in the middle of bottom head thickness. As a result of analysis, the elastic zone became narrow and moved to the internal wall as the internal pressure increases, and it is evaluated that the structural integrity of reactor vessel is maintained under core melting accident.
Keywords
severe accident; molten core debris; reactor pressure vessel; external reactor vessel cooling;
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