Chapter 2 - Improving nuclear power plant flooding hazard analysis through component performance experiments, fragility model development, and smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulation

Abstract

The March 2011 tsunami damage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the June 2011 Missouri River flooding damage at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant as well as frequent less spectacular nuclear power plant flooding events highlight the necessity for the development of more rigorous methods of quantifying and evaluating flooding risks in nuclear power plants. More rigorous flooding risk quantification requires a deep understanding of how components perform under flooding conditions and development of corresponding, data driven, component flooding fragility models. Furthermore, improved flooding simulation techniques are needed and ultimately integration of fragility models into the flooding simulations will allow a thorough evaluation of nuclear power plant response to flooding scenarios. This chapter provides detailed experimental results associated with components under flooding conditions and the development of a data-driven fragility model. In addition, this chapter provides information regarding the use of smoothed particle hydrodynamics as a method of performing flooding simulation as well as the integration of fragility models into the simulation. While the work described in this chapter is preliminary in nature, it provides a valuable roadmap for improving nuclear power plant flood hazard evaluation.